{"id":28257,"date":"2017-08-02T18:43:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T18:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/\/?p=28257"},"modified":"2017-08-02T18:46:38","modified_gmt":"2017-08-02T18:46:38","slug":"policy-updates-news-june-july-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/policy-updates-news-june-july-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Updates and Issue News June\/July 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Administration<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nWhat some political pundits are referring to as chaos has escalated at the White House.\u00a0 For months, there have been hushed rumors the senior White House staff has been a feuding, conniving, undisciplined band vying for the President\u2019s attention.\u00a0\u00a0 The turbulence came to a head in late July when the White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and White House Communications Director Sean Spicer were abruptly replaced by Homeland Security Secretary and Marine Corps General John Kelly and investment banker Anthony Scaramucci respectively. \u00a0Kelly\u2019s first official action as Chief of Staff was to fire Scaramucci who had gotten himself into deep trouble with an off-color interview with The New Yorker magazine. The collapse of efforts to change the Affordable Care Act seems to have escalated discourse between the White House and Congress as well.\u00a0 Washington, Congress and the White House have month-long August congressional recess to pause, reflect and look for a path forward.<\/p>\n

On the brighter side, President Trump is making progress putting his agriculture and rural issues team in place.\u00a0 Much of the delay has been blamed on heightened scrutiny for FBI background checks on potential appointees which has caused huge backlogs.\u00a0 Nominated to join Secretary Sonny Perdue at USDA are Steve Censky, Deputy Secretary and Dr. Sam Clovis, Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics.\u00a0\u00a0 South Dakota native Censky has extensive agriculture policy experience on the Hill, served at USDA under two presidents and\u00a0 for 21 years was CEO of the American Soybean Association.\u00a0 Clovis is a PhD economics professor from Iowa, Air Force Academy graduate and an early agriculture advisor on the Trump campaign.<\/p>\n

Indiana Agriculture Director Ted McKinney has been nominated to be Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agriculture Affairs.\u00a0 McKinney is well known in agriculture circles for his passion to sell American agricultural products in foreign markets.\u00a0 He had previous careers at Dow AgroSciences and Elanco.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Indiana native Anne Hazlett and has been appointed as the newly-created Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development.\u00a0 Her position replaces the Under Secretary for Rural Development spot eliminated by Secretary Perdue soon after he was confirmed.\u00a0 That move has been criticized by some on the Hill who fear rural needs may lose support.\u00a0 Secretary Perdue contends USDA\u2019s rural focus will actually be enhanced with the move into the Secretary\u2019s office.\u00a0\u00a0 Hazlett is well respected for her rural issues experience as Chief Counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee, as an advisor to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and in private law practice specializing in agriculture and environmental regulatory matters.<\/p>\n

Greg Doud has been nominated to be Chief Agriculture Negotiator for the Office of Special Trade Representative.\u00a0\u00a0 Greg comes from a ranch in Kansas, is the current President of the Commodity Markets Council, and has previously worked for the Senate Agriculture Committee, National Cattlemen\u2019s Beef Association and U.S. Wheat Associates.<\/p>\n

The President\u2019s newly-appointed Interagency Taskforce on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity is meeting regularly.\u00a0 Several members of the Cabinet including Secretary Perdue (Task Force Chairman) are at the table.\u00a0 Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is also a member and is a strong rural broadband expansion advocate (National Grange President Betsy Huber serves on his Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee).\u00a0 The Task Force mission is to improve the quality of life for people living in rural areas, develop a reliable workforce, spur innovation and technology development, and roll back regulations to allow communities to grow and thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rural Broadband<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nExpanding high speed internet to agriculture, small business, schools, medical facilities, first responders, entrepreneurs and residents of rural and small town America continues to be a top priority for the National Grange.\u00a0 Deploying broadband to rural areas is neither easy nor cheap.\u00a0 The economy of scale and a large population mass allows urban areas affordable access to the latest and best technology.\u00a0 Rural areas need that same access but to fewer people over large geographical areas.\u00a0 Economic feasibility and regulatory barriers that date back to the Great Depression are huge challenges. \u00a0The Grange is working to identify ways to modernize rules governing permitting, zoning, franchising and other areas that have sometimes unreasonably hindered broadband deployment.<\/p>\n

The National Grange recently filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) n support of the Commission\u2019s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Restoring Internet Freedom.\u00a0 The Grange noted that previous reclassification of high-speed internet as a utility service caused a decline in broadband investment and encouraged the Commission to return to rules that protect internet user\u2019s online rights while encouraging broadband build-out.<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s Real Clear Policy newsletter recently published an op-ed by National Grange President Betsy Huber commending new Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai, for establishing a Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee.\u00a0 She challenged the FCC to modify an existing license to allow companies to create a nationwide network that combines satellite and terrestrial capabilities in a manner that would bring industrial 5G speed and reliability to rural communities.<\/p>\n

The daily Morning Consult newsletter recently published an op-ed by Huber supporting FCC Chairman Pai\u2019s plan to change several rules that were adopted from a 1934 law designed to help the rotary phone system but is now a hurdle to gaining access to modern broadband services.\u00a0\u00a0 These regulations are another barrier to gaining rural access to modern broadband services.<\/p>\n

The Federal Communications Commission should move with all due speed to complete the Connect America Fund Phase II auction to build broadband networks across rural areas that lack access to sufficient resources.\u00a0 A letter to FCC Chairman Pai signed by the National Grange and 32 agriculture, rural and business groups stated, \u201cAs users of networks in rural areas, we have a vested interest in seeing this auction move forward quickly and successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Budget and Appropriations<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nFor the first time in years, Congress just might adopt a federal budget and pass all its appropriations bills to fund the departments and agencies of government.\u00a0 The National Grange joined the dairy industry to secure $500 million over the next ten years to provide greater levels of Margin Protection Program insurance coverage.\u00a0 These funds will carry forward to the upcoming new Farm Bill.\u00a0 Farm Service Agency funding for farm loans will hold at the same level FY 2017, thanks to the efforts by the National Grange and several rural lender organizations; with farmers and ranchers facing difficult economic conditions ahead, now is not the time for FSA to run out of loan money.<\/p>\n

Included in the FY 2018 budget resolution proposed by the House is a $10 billion reduction in agriculture spending over ten years.\u00a0 Congressional agriculture committees will decide what programs to trim.\u00a0 Supporters of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program (food stamps) are gearing to defend SNAP from program cuts in the new farm bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conservation and Environment
\n <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nFinally, some regulatory relief is on the horizon.\u00a0 The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have acted officially to rescind the \u201cWaters of the U.S.\u201d (WOTUS) rule and to propose a replacement.\u00a0 Several committee chairmen on the Hill praised the proposed withdrawal calling it \u201can important first step to getting the federal government out of America\u2019s backyards, fields and ditches.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0FY 2018 House appropriations language also bars spending any money to require permits for normal farming activities such as plowing, stock ponds, irrigation ditches and drainage ditches.\u00a0 Repeal of the WOTUS rule has been a top priority for the National Grange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farm Bill<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nFood, agriculture, conservation and rural groups along with school and community feeding advocates are shifting serious focus to developing a new farm bill.\u00a0\u00a0 The House and Senate Agriculture Committees have already begun farm bill hearings in Washington and several locations around the country.\u00a0 The leadership of both committees, (Roberts R-KS, Stabenow D-MI, Conaway R-TX, Peterson, D-MN) are anxious to get a farm bill rolling through the legislative process as early as this fall.\u00a0 However, the logjam of major legislation on the Hill will likely slow the farm bill\u2019s progress somewhat.\u00a0 National Grange will be working with Congress and other rural and agriculture groups to craft specific sections of the legislation.\u00a0 Chief among Granger farm bill priorities are crop and whole-revenue farm insurance, working lands conservation (Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Security Program), research and education, and the coupling farm and food programs together in the same piece of farm legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Health Care
\n <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nAt the end of July, the Senate\u2019s attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) collapsed.\u00a0 Last minute attempts failed to salvage pieces and parts of the Senate bill so a comprehensive health care package could be written in conference with the House-passed health care legislation.\u00a0 In the end, there were no easy answers to the \u201cpay for\u201d elephant under the capitol dome.\u00a0 For the foreseeable future, health care professionals expect insurance markets to remain unstable and expensive with additional insurance market withdrawals and unbalanced risk pools around the country.<\/p>\n

The National Grange joined a large group of patient groups and health professionals on a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Price urging him to protect the Medicare Part B program.\u00a0 There have been recent policy recommendations to change Part B that would jeopardize access to care, force community clinics to close through consolidation, make it more difficult for physicians in small practices and in rural areas to give personalized care, and increase costs for seniors.<\/p>\n

Rural health concerns continue to mount.\u00a0 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds rural residents are less likely to contract cancer than their urban counterparts but are more likely to die from it.\u00a0 Rural residents have fewer choices for diagnosis and intervention than do urbanites.\u00a0 The Chartis Center for Rural Health reports that 80 rural hospitals have closed since 2010 and 41 percent of rural hospitals now are operating at a negative margin.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Counterfeit drugs continue to be a growing problem, especially among unsuspecting senior citizens apparently.\u00a0 \u00a0Patient groups are concerned that cheap fake and even dangerous prescription drugs can be produced in third-world countries and sold through non-American pharmacies.\u00a0 National Grange President Betsy Huber released a public policy statement in June urging Congress to protect Americans from the potential dangers of imported counterfeit prescription drugs as it reauthorizes the Prescription Drug User Fee act.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Infrastructure
\n <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nThe National Grange is a member of the Rebuild Rural Coalition that testified recently before the House Agriculture Committee at a hearing on rural infrastructure needs recently.\u00a0 The coalition\u2019s top priorities are to increase rural competitiveness through improvements in roads and bridges, clean water, reliable electricity and broadband internet access.\u00a0 Coalition members are anxious to see infrastructure legislation begin moving on the Hill.\u00a0 However, it appears that with health care legislation out of the way, comprehensive tax code reform could be next in line first pushing infrastructure into next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taxes
\n <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nComprehensive tax code reform is challenging, is a political land mine, encounters the \u201cpay for\u201d elephant and is long overdue.\u00a0 The last major overhaul of the tax code was 31 years ago in 1986 under President Reagan\u2019s leadership.\u00a0 That one was achieved with bipartisan support and was credited with driving economic growth.<\/p>\n

The White House and congressional leaders have decided to drop the controversial border-adjustment tax from their plan.\u00a0 Border-adjustment, which taxes imported goods but not exports, could fund large tax cuts but has been fiercely opposed by retailers and other import-dependent industries.\u00a0 The challenge will be to \u201cpay for\u201d popular tax cuts by eliminating commensurate tax deductions.\u00a0\u00a0 Opposition then arises from individuals and businesses that benefit from those breaks.\u00a0 One area that enjoys some bipartisan support is lowering the corporate tax rate to remove the incentive for companies to relocate overseas thus luring trillions of dollars in foreign earnings back to the United States for investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
View from Rural America
\n <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nA recent survey of rural and small town America by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation was designed to gauge the views and experiences of these communities and how they compare to their of urban and suburban counterparts.<\/p>\n

Key findings include:<\/p>\n