Policy Updates and Issue News June 2020

Food Prices Skyrocket While Farm Prices Nosedive

The cost of food from the grocery store bought to eat at home during the lockdown skyrocketed, rising the most in 46 years as the food supply chain struggled to get surplus farm commodities to the consumer. Restaurant carryout meals spiked as well. Analysts predict supermarket and restaurant customers should not expect prices to drop anytime soon. At the same time, farm gate earnings are expected to plunge for the foreseeable future without additional pandemic economic aid.

Congress Extends Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility

Congress overwhelmingly voted to increase from 8 to 24 weeks the amount of time businesses and farms are given to spend proceeds on qualified expenses in order to have their PPP loan forgiven. This extension was aggressively supported by the National Grange and producer organizations. Congress created the PPP in its CARES Act to help small businesses and farms survive the economic impacts the COVID-19 lockdown.

Grange: Include Ag Organizations in PPP

The National Grange is asking members of the Senate to extend Paycheck Protection Program eligibility to agricultural organizations as the Senate crafts a CARES 2 relief package. President Betsy Huber told Senators producers depend on their organizations for news, communication, advice, market intelligence, best practices and much more. Strong producer organizations will be in much better positions to assist members with their much-needed economic recovery and emotional support, she said.

Grange Asks for Trucking Relief

The National Grange and over 60 agricultural and food organizations are asking House members to support the FARM to TABLE Act (Joyce, R-PA). Joyce’s bill will extend truckers’ hours of service rule exemptions year-round for agricultural commodities within a 150-mile radius from the source of the commodity.

General Aviation Important to Rural Areas

The National Grange, joined by 15 other organizations, is asking Senate and House leadership to temporarily suspend fuel taxes for general aviation aircraft as Congress did for commercial airlines in their CARES Act. This can be accomplished in Congress’ CARES 2 Act being crafted now. General aviation and local airports are a key economic driver for recovery in rural regions of the country.

Senators Support Small Plant Expansion

As the food supply chain begins to recover and meat processing plants return to capacity, there is a renewed push to expand small and local processing capacity. Nine Senators (Kramer R-ND, King D-ME, Rounds R-SD, Manchin D-WV, Daines R-MT, Smith D-MN, Barrasso R-WY, Tester D-MT , Enzi-WY) have cosponsored the bipartisan New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act which would allow state products which have been inspected by an approved (at least equal to federal standards) state inspection program to be sold interstate. Natiional Grange policy supports equal-to state inspection and subsequent interstate sales.

Five Million Food Boxes and Climbing

USDA’s new Farmers to Families Food Box Program was designed to connect farmers and distributors to support food banks, community and faith-based organizations and other non-profits to those most in need across the country. Instead of destroying commodities that are not marketable, producers can sell directly to distributors of federally funded feeding programs. Five million food boxes had been distributed by early June.

Waters of the U.S. Rule Goes into Effect

The new Navigable Waters Protection Rule went into effect in early June after a federal judge declined to block its implementation. The rule was widely supported by farmers, ranchers, landowners and others after an earlier 2015 rule was deemed to have overstepped congressional intent of the Clean Water Act and infringed upon private landowner rights. On the same day, a U.S. District judge in Colorado granted a preliminary injunction to prevent the rule from going into effect there.

Senate Bill Would Pay Farmers for Carbon Sequestration

A bipartisan Senate bill is garnering support that would give USDA a key role in overseeing voluntary agricultural carbon markets. Lead sponsors are Braun (R-IN), Stabenow (D-MI), Graham (R-SC) and Whitehouse (D-RI). The Growing Climate Solutions Act would create a USDA system for certifying third-party verifiers and technical assistance providers. Farmers and ranchers could receive assistance and incentives for implementing practices which reduce carbon emissions on their operations. In addition, they could sell excess carbon credits to commercial firms who exceed their carbon emission cap. During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on June 24, the bill appeared to have broad support among committee members.

Extend Medicare Enrollment

The National Grange joined a large number of patient advocate groups to urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services to extend special enrollment and premium relief flexibilities for Medicare. These extensions are necessary to ensure access to coverage for older Americans during the remainder of the COVID-19 crisis.

Widespread Testing Helps Halt Outbreaks

Meat processing plants have been among the country’s worst coronavirus hot spots. It is typical for large numbers of employees to work in close proximity under one roof. Across the industry, thousands of workers became infected and hundreds died. But rapid rollout of testing in those plants could offer guidance to other businesses to emulate as they try to re-open. Processing plant workers who test positive have to isolate themselves and if no symptoms appear, they can return to work. This testing and isolation along with face shields, social distancing in common areas, and plastic dividers to separate workers on production lines seems to have paid off with big reductions in coronavirus cases.

Infrastructure Next on House Agenda

On June 22, House Democrats introduced H.R. 2, The Moving Forward Act, a major 2,300-page infrastructure bill. Key items in the legislation include:

• $500 billion to rebuild transportation infrastructure
• $100 billion for affordable housing
• $30 billion for hospital upgrades
• $25 billion for safe drinking water systems
• $70 billion to transform the electric grid to better accommodate renewable energy
• $100 billion for high speed broadband to unserved and underserved communities
• $130 billion for high-poverty school infrastructure
• Funding for the Postal Service

Infrastructure Outlook

President Trump is pushing for a $1 trillion spending package to boost the struggling economy. Senate Republicans are warning that the President’s proposal and the House bill are too rich and would be a heavy lift for the Senate. Senate Majority McConnell warns of the impact of the surging federal deficit on future generations and instead would like to pass a five-year reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund.

Broadband Mapping is Priority

National Grange president Betsy Huber wrote members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to again urge members to commit full funding to create more precise broadband maps through the Broadband DATA Act. Current broadband mapping cannot accurately depict the underserved areas of rural America for effective broadband deployment investment. The Grange letter was in advance of the June 24 Committee oversight hearing with all five Federal Communications Commissioners.

Grange Participates in Broadband Briefing

National Grange president Betsy Huber was a panelist on a virtual briefing hosted by the Connect Americans Now coalition. The briefing focused on the urgency to address the digital divide, the progress that has been made to clear regulatory hurdles, and actions Congress can take to allocate funding to most rapidly and cost-effectively close the broadband gap. Other panelists included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau, National Rural Education Association, and Student Veterans of America