Policy Updates and Issue News October 2023

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 Louisiana district as Speaker of the House of Representatives by a vote of 220-209. The Senate meanwhile is working in a bipartisan manner to pass legislation for aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The continuing resolution to temporarily fund the federal government expires mid-November. Congress may need to pass another continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown because they probably will not be able to pass a FY 2024 budget at this point.  New restrictions were placed on the sale of artificial intelligence chips to China in the name of U.S. national security. The current farm bill expired on September 30 and some programs have expired or partially expired. Many of the larger programs have full funding and function through December 30. At that point, a farm bill extension will be necessary. Legislative activity was practically at a standstill on Capitol Hill during October.

Lawmakers look at foreign ag land purchases

At a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, Senate Agriculture Committee members heard that sparse resources at USDA are limiting the monitoring of foreign ag land purchases. Because of limited staff and funding, USDA is relying on a self-reporting, “paper-based” system to track those purchases. The FY2023 appropriations bill called for USDA to create a searchable online database of foreign investment information and appropriated the funds necessary for the project. The Agriculture Foreign Investment Disclosure Act requires foreign entities to file disclosure information with USDA’s Farm Service Agency when they buy or sell land. However, several witnesses said they were concerned by the agency’s inconsistent and lax enforcement of the law. About 40 million acres or about 3% of the nation’s total farm, ranch and forest land is owned or leased by foreign investors. Ten states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Utah – enacted foreign land ownership laws in 2023. Full and transparent disclosure of foreign ownership is a Grange policy priority.

Hearings dig deep into milk pricing regulations

Formulating proposed changes to the federal milk marketing order system and balancing the wish lists of dairy producers and processors have been the subject of seven weeks of public hearings by USDA. Two more weeks of hearings are scheduled to begin November 27. Differing proposals have been offered by the National Milk Producers Federation representing milk producers and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) representing milk processors. USDA expects to offer its recommendations by April and have a producer vote on the recommendations by the end of next year. Grangers should expect a lively farm bill debate on milk pricing options.

Commodity checkoff programs survive House challenge

In early October, the House of Representatives defeated an amendment aimed at barring USDA from administering commodity checkoff programs by a vote of 49-377. House Agriculture Committee chairman G.T. Thompson emphasized these programs are voluntarily created and paid for by producers and checkoff programs do not receive any tax dollars for their activities, or for USDA oversight of their activities. Thompson did express a willingness to look at increased transparency when developing the new farm bill.

Veterans to receive grants

USDA will give $27.6 million in grants to underserved and veteran farmers, ranchers and forest owners to provide training, outreach and technical assistance to help them own and operate successful agricultural enterprises. Projects to be funded include, but not limited to, conferences, workshops and demonstrations as well as ways to connect participants to USDA resources and services.

Legislation would help rural veterinarian shortage

Several senators have introduced a bipartisan bill, the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, that would provide incentives such as tax benefits and paying down student loans to encourage veterinarians to practice in rural shortage areas. A companion bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House. The Act would reflect similar exemptions provided to medical doctors and other human health practitioners. Grange policy strongly supports incentives for rural practitioners.

Patients to receive more copay assistance

The National Grange joined patient groups for several years to assure patients actually receive copay assistance and coupons provided by prescription drug manufacturers. Unfortunately, middlemen between drug manufacturers and the local pharmacy counter known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have been able to siphon off those savings intended to help insurance companies lower policy premiums for patients. The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. recently struct down a rule PBMs had been using for this practice.

House forms rural health caucus

The new Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus will serve as a forum for U.S. Representatives to promote legislation and policy actions focusing on rural health. There will be opportunities for the caucus to hear from patients, providers and health advocates about the health care need in rural communities. Jill Tokuda (D-2 -HI) and Diana Harshbarger (R-1-TN) co-chair the caucus. The Grange is looking forward to working with members of the caucus.

Editorials focus on rural mental health

Editorials raising awareness of mental health stigma in rural communities were featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Roanoke Times and several local papers in Virginia during October. Bylined by National Grange’s Burton Eller, the articles pointed out that rural residents are likelier than their urban counterparts to struggle with depression, face higher risks of suicide, have little access to mental health professionals and worry more about the stigma of reaching out for help. In addition, Congress needs to amend the Inflation Reduction Act to allow more time for development of small molecule therapies to treat mental illness. Eller highlighted the National Grange-Rural Minds partnership to raise rural awareness and expand mental health access.

Health care equity in the heartland

That was the lead-in to TV coverage on WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and WXII in Winston Salem, North Carolina that featured interviews with the National Grange’s Burton Eller. The interviews focused on the work Granges at all levels are doing to empower rural patients to be active participants in their health care. Because rural residents are a little older, sicker, less insured and farther away from doctors and hospitals, it is important they get vaccinated against flu, pneumonia, COVID and RSV as the fall and winter respiratory virus season arrives.

New hope for Alzheimer’s patients

Until now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has limited Alzheimer’s scans to one per lifetime and these were only available in large metropolitan centers. The good news is that CMS has made the decision to allow multiple Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans and these will be available regionally across the country. The Grange has been pushing for these advancements to aid rural Alsheimer’s patients.

Generation GEN Z’s Motivators

As Gen Z consumers enter the workforce, they’re encountering different circumstances than their parents or grandparents, according to Sojo Industries, an industrial automation company. They grew up hearing about climate change and have experienced a global pandemic firsthand. They are now facing new challenges such as inflation, higher costs of living and the impact of social media. These experiences are driving this generation to make value-driven spending decisions which include preserving the planet and saving dollars toward the basic living necessities.

“Every sunset is also a sunrise. It all depends on where you stand.”  ~  Karl Schnidt

“Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting.”  ~  Richard Paul Evans

“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, ‘Soften the orange a bit on the right-hand corner.’ I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.”  ~  Carl R. Rogers

“Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of heaven.”  ~  john Lubbock

“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.”  ~  Mahatma Gandhi