September 28, 2018
Earlier this week, the House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) for spending bills that have not yet been passed, which would extend government funding levels from fiscal year (FY) 2018 through December 7 of this year. The CR was passed as part of a “minibus” spending bill package (H.R. 6157) that included FY 2019 funding […]
September 7, 2018
Congress has less than 10 legislative days left to fund the government for fiscal year (FY) 2019 in order to avoid a shutdown. In order to keep the government running, congressional appropriators are working overtime to negotiate the differences between House and Senate spending bills before September 30 (when the current fiscal year’s funding expires). […]
August 2, 2018
One of the basic tasks of Congress is to pass the set of 12 annual spending bills (appropriations) that fund the government and all its many programs and services. The appropriations bills include all spending items other than those that are mandated by Congress and occur automatically. The deadline for Congress to act on appropriations […]
June 28, 2018
Last week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) hosted our second farmer fly-in of 2018, bringing in farmer advocates from across the country to make their priorities known on Capitol Hill. Ten growers and advocates from Alabama, California, Mississippi, Montana, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon, Michigan, and Vermont took time out of their busy schedules […]
June 1, 2018
Last budget cycle, advocacy groups like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) helped to push a strong budget package through Congress, one which the President ultimately – if reluctantly – signed. Immediately after that budget deal was done and a fiscal year (FY) 2018 appropriations omnibus was delivered (with an extra $2 billion for agriculture […]
May 25, 2018
Each year, Congress passes far-reaching funding legislation, known as appropriations legislation, to fund federal programs across the government. This includes many of the programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On Thursday May 24, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) […]
May 18, 2018
This week has been a perfect embodiment of the popular expression, “when it rains, it pours.” Not only has the House – and the sustainable agriculture advocacy community – been busy trying to finalize and pass their version of the 2018 Farm Bill (the bill failed 198-213), they’ve had their hands full with fiscal year […]
May 11, 2018
Each year, Congress passes far-reaching funding legislation, known as appropriations legislation, to fund federal programs across the government. This includes many of the programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On Wednesday, May 9, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee passed its agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year […]
May 7, 2018
For weeks, all eyes have been on the congressional agriculture committees as debate of the 2018 Farm Bill has steadily ramped up. This week, however, our attention turns to the appropriations committees and the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending bills. Members of both chambers have just returned from a week-long congressional recess, and the […]
April 10, 2018
There was a lot to celebrate last week at the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program’s (SARE) Our Farms, Our Future conference in St. Louis, MO. For one, SARE and the Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural Areas (ATTRA) program were celebrating their 30th anniversaries and all the amazing accomplishments each program had helped to make […]
