Category: Policy Updates/Issue News
Policy Updates and Issue News March 2024
Washington Overview A blessed Good Friday to you from Washington where Congress is on Easter recess. The Grange youth and junior leadership team and Grange president Christine Hamp were in DC mid-March where they saw the cherry blossoms at their peak, participated in the Grange virtual fly-in, spent time in congressional offices on Capitol Hill, … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News March 2024”
Policy Updates and Issue News February 2024
Washington Overview The Senate and House returned this week from their two-week Presidents Day recess with a government shutdown staring them in the face. The first deadline is Friday, March 1 when funding runs out for USDA, FDA, Energy, Transportation, HUD and Military Construction. The remaining agencies’ deadline is March 8. There was a high-level … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News February 2024”
Policy Updates and Issue News January 2024
Washington Overview The nation’s capital has been dealing with lingering snow and cold temperatures like the rest of the country, but the artic blast hasn’t cooled the political atmosphere. Congress prevented a government shutdown by kicking the can to Mardh 1 and March 8. There’s still no agreement on funding support for Ukraine, Israel and … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News January 2024”
Policy Updates and Issue News December 2023
Washington Overview Welcome to the New Year where it’s anything but happy on the political front in Washington. Congress left town for the holidays without a deal for aid to Ukraine and Israel which was tied to new border controls along our southern boundary. This Achillies Heel for Congress will still be on Congress’ agenda … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News December 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News November 2023
Washington Overview On November 17, a bipartisan Congress passed a stopgap funding bill that was signed by the President. The two-step continuing resolution funds government in two tranches, one until January 19 and the other until February 2. The first funds military construction, Veterans affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and energy and water … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News November 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News October 2023
Washington Overview For most of October, the overriding news in Washington has been the chaos in the House Republican Conference. Speaker McCarthy was relieved of his speakership but multiple votes over several weeks failed to elect a new speaker. Finally on Wednesday, October 25 the House elected Mike Johnson (R-4-LA) who represents a large rural … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News October 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News September 2023
Washington Overview Washington is seriously preparing for a federal government shutdown at 12:01 am Sunday morning as a result of Congress’s inability to pass a budget for the next fiscal year which begins October 1. The Senate has passed all its appropriations bills, a short-term continuing Resolution (CR), and seems determined to avoid a shutdown. … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News September 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News August 2023
Washington Overview Congress is still in recess until September 11. When lawmakers return, several big-ticket items will be on their agenda. The elephant-in-the-room issue will be funding the federal government for a new fiscal year which begins October 1. The Senate has cleared all their government funding bills out of the Appropriations Committee and sent … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News August 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News July 2023
Washington Overview Lawmakers in Washington are heading home (and abroad) for their traditional August recess and will return to the nation’s capital on September 12. They leave with most of the heavy legislative lifting waiting for action. The majority of the annual appropriations bills are still in committee. The President has threatened to veto the … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News July 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News June 2023
Washington Overview Debt Ceiling Deal Becomes Law In early June, President Joe Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which raised the federal debt limit until 2025 and also included spending caps and cuts. The law represents a compromise between House Republicans and the White House that came after months of back-and-forth negotiations with … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News June 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News May 2023
Supreme Court Rules for Landowners On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision that greatly narrows the scope of the Clean Water Act as interpreted by the federal government. This long-awaited WOTUS ruling says the law only regulates wetlands when they are “as a practical matter indistinguishable from waters of the United States.” … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News May 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News April 2023
Washington Overview Debt Ceiling Fight Moves Forward In April, House Republicans offered their first concrete proposal to address the imminent debt ceiling default. The Republican proposal comes in the form of the Limit, Save, and Grow Act, which passed the House this past week. The Act would first address the debt limit default by waiving … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News April 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News March 2023
Washington Overview Little Progress on Debt Limit Nearly every ongoing conversation in Congress is colored by the looming threat of a debt limit default which could come this summer. Nevertheless, Congress and the White House have made little progress towards an agreement to raise the debt limit and avoid default. As a reminder from last … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News March 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News February 2023
Washington Overview Congress Gets to a Slow Start Following a lengthy process to elect a Speaker for the new 218th Congress, the first few weeks of the new session have gotten off to a slow start. In the House, it took until early February for both parties to finalize their committee assignments, and subcommittee assignments … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News February 2023”
Policy Updates and Issue News January 2023
Washington Overview New Congress Settles In With the new year has come a new Congress with divided control for the first time since President Biden was elected. The House of Representatives is now controlled by a narrow Republican majority while the Senate remains controlled by Democrats. The Senate was able to quickly return to the … Continue reading “Policy Updates and Issue News January 2023”
