Policy Updates and Issue News May 2022

Primary Season Heats Up

As Spring turns to Summer, many states are currently holding primary elections for the Fall midterms. In both the month of June and the month of August 15 different states will hold their primaries, meaning that many elected officials are turning their focus more towards winning reelection at home than writing legislation in Washington.  Both Republican and Democratic primaries this year feature fraught battles between the more moderate and extreme wings of each party with the results likely to have serious impacts on both the general election in the Fall and legislation to come in the next Congress.

Another Reconciliation Package?

Ever since the demise of Build Back Better, the party-line Democratic effort to pass a large package of social and climate spending funded through tax increases targeted towards corporations and the wealthy in late 2021, questions have swirled about the prospects of another bill targeting similar issues. In order to pass a new bill, Democrats would need to have the support of all 50 Democratic Senators including moderates such as Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) who sunk the previous package in December of 2021. So far, both Sinema and Manchin have publicly declared their interest in some sort of package which would include climate and energy provisions (though omitting previous social welfare programs) along with tax increases and other efforts to reduce the federal deficit and inflation such as new drug pricing regulations. However, as each day passes without concrete details of another package emerging, it becomes less likely that a package will be able to materialize before Congress turns entirely towards focusing on reelection and the Fall midterms.

Competition/Supply Chain Bill Negotiations Continue

As we reported in April’s View from the Hill, the House and Senate have moved to the negotiations phase on a large package which includes many provisions designed to address competition with China, and long-term supply chain issues. A bipartisan group of negotiators from the House and Senate have been meeting privately for the past month in an effort to reconcile discrepancies between their respective versions of the bill. So far, little has been released about the progress of negotiations; however Republican Senators have made clear that the final version must look closer to the bipartisan bill they passed in the Senate than the mostly Democratic House bill. It is unclear what the final timeline for the bill will be, but this is likely to be one of the last major bills that will be passed before the conclusion of this Congress.

Gun Control on the Agenda

Following a series of tragic mass shootings in recent weeks, Democrats in Congress and the White House have renewed efforts to pass gun control measures of varying severity. In the House, a variety of bills have emerged including measures to raise the age limit to purchase semiautomatic guns, ban new high-capacity magazines, strengthen federal firearm trafficking laws, prevent straw purchases, and address gun storage rules. For the most part these measures have seen little interest from Republicans and are not likely to receive bipartisan support in the House. Meanwhile in the Senate proposals have been less specific as small groups of bipartisan Senators seek to find some compromises on issues such as red flag laws and increased funding for mental health. Despite the bipartisan nature of conversations in the Senate it remains unlikely that anything will move forward. Nevertheless, Congress will spend significant time in the next few months on negotiations over new measures to address gun violence.

Proposed Rulemaking Adds Regulatory Burden

A proposed regulation on climate disclosure aimed at publicly traded companies could add another regulatory burden on farmers and ranchers.  The Securities and Exchange Commission would like to require public companies to disclose their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions all the way down their supply chain.  This means that even the smallest family-owned farm and ranch would be required to supply a significant amount of climate-related compliance information which they are not equipped to do.  The National Grange and other representatives of the agriculture community are encouraging members of the House to sign on to a letter to SEC Chairman Gensler and his fellow commissioners suggesting the time, energy and cost of complying with this regulation is an inappropriate burden on farmers and ranchers.

USDA Allows Early CRP Termination

In an effort to stimulate additional food production, the USDA will allow Conservation Reserve Program contract acres expiring September 30 to terminate early without penalty.  This will allow producers to hay, graze, till or plant a fall-seeded crop prior to October 1.

Ag Research Can Improve Climate Outcomes

The National Grange and a diverse group of cosigners sent a letter to the appropriations committees’ leadership on Capitol Hill to request USDA research funding in the FY ‘23 spending bill be increased to include development of technologies and practices that improve climate resilience and sustainability on farms and ranches.  Agriculture production accounts for about 10 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and that can be reduced with the proper tools.

Direct Air Carbon Capture

The Department of Energy will fund $3.5 billion in carbon dioxide removal by direct air capture.  The plans are to develop, build and maintain giant machines to suck greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere and permanently store carbon dioxide.

Leverage Federally Qualified Health Centers in Rural Areas?

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) provide comprehensive care on rural and other underserved areas.  They grew out of President Johnson’s War on Poverty over fifty years ago.  Today, there are 1,368 such centers in the country but they cannot begin to fill the health care desert in rural America.  FQHCs receive grant funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration plus reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.  Therefore, FQHC’s can serve rural populations without the financial strain faced by rural hospital systems.  There are also over 12,000 additional private similar providers across the country and many of these are struggling to survive financially.  Is it possible for FQHCs and rural health systems to collaborate and cooperate for sustainable patient care?  Fortunately, there already examples of success stories in several parts of the country where FQHCs have strategically taken over some critical services while the private rural health care systems retained others.

Patient Groups Say Pharmacy Benefit Managers Harm Drug Access and Affordability

The National Grange and over 100 patient groups filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission on the impact of Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) practices and the ability of patients to access and afford their prescription medications. While originally intended to process pharmacy claims, PBMs have evolved into one of the largest drivers of determining prescription access and affordability.  The FTC will investigate the impact on patients.

Grange Helps Launch Hear Well Campaign

The National Grange joined the Hearing Loss Association of America, the Hearing Industries Association, and numerous medical and patient groups to launch the “Hear Well” campaign.  The purpose of the campaign is to educate the public on hearing loss and the critical role hearing professionals play in the diagnosis and treatment of this common medical condition.  An estimated 48 million Americans have some form of hearing loss, making it one of the most prevalent medical conditions in the country.