NSAC Archives for the 'Budget and Appropriations' Category
Farm Bill? Budget Deal? Nuclear Fallout?
Friday, November 22nd, 2013
Thursday was a momentous day in Congress. Senate Democrats went nuclear, voting by a simple majority to change Senate rules and end the minority party’s ability to filibuster presidential nominees other than Supreme Court nominees. Whether this action puts the Senate into a drawn-out series of procedural standstills for the rest of the year remains Read the Rest…
Budget Conference and What It Means for Food and Agriculture Policy
Friday, October 18th, 2013
Late on Wednesday, October 16, Congress passed a bill to fund the government through January 15 and raise the debt limit until February 7. The bill ends a partial government shutdown that lasted 16 days, and averts a default that could have occurred had the U.S. debt limit been reached. However, because the deal is Read the Rest…
Federal Government Shuts Down Many Services
Tuesday, October 1st, 2013
After the House and Senate failed to agree on a federal funding bill by midnight on September 30, the Federal Government began shutting down non-essential services on Tuesday. In order to avoid a government shutdown, Congress needed to pass and the President needed to sign a fiscal year (FY) 2014 funding bill called a continuing Read the Rest…
Farm Bill Takes Step Forward while Government Funding Bill Uncertain
Friday, September 27th, 2013
FARM BILL COUNTDOWN CLOCK Update: On Saturday, September 28, the House approved the rule to allow for debate over the government funding bill without any delays, a rule which also combined the farm-only and nutrition-only farm bills back into a single comprehensive bill. Four Democrats voted yes and four Republicans voted no in what Read the Rest…
House Passes Bill to Slash Government Funding and Repeal Affordable Care Act
Thursday, September 19th, 2013
Update: On Friday, September 20, the House passed its short-term continuing appropriations resolution, 230-189. Two Democrats voted Aye on the bill, while one Republican voted against the bill. Click here for the full roll call vote. On Thursday, September 19, the House of Representatives passed a rule to govern debate on a short-term continuing appropriations Read the Rest…
House Committee Releases Bill to Fund Government into December
Wednesday, September 11th, 2013
Late on Tuesday, September 10, the House Appropriations Committee released a draft of its continuing appropriations resolution (CR) for the first two and a half months of fiscal year (FY) 2014. With few exceptions, the bill would fund programs until December 15 at the levels provided in the final FY 2013 CR. Despite the House Read the Rest…
Land Stewardship Project Report Assesses Conservation Stewardship Program in Minnesota
Monday, September 9th, 2013
The Land Stewardship Project just released a comprehensive report addressing the Conservation Stewardship Program in Minnesota. The report analyzes participation in the program county-by-county and makes recommendations to improve the program at the state and national level. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a comprehensive working-lands program that provides financial and technical assistance to farmers Read the Rest…
What’s on Deck this Fall for Farm Bill and Appropriations
Friday, September 6th, 2013
Congress will be back in Washington next week and first up will be debates in both houses on Syria. The debate and action on Syria will take at least a week, and could spill over into a second week if a Senate filibuster takes place. The time debating foreign war policy will delay action on Read the Rest…
SARE Celebrates 25 Years!
Friday, August 16th, 2013
As NSAC celebrates its 25th anniversary (see here) , so does the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. This is not a coincidence. Authorizing and winning funding for SARE was the first major NSAC campaign. SARE was the first USDA program dedicated to sustainable agriculture and remains the keystone program. Yesterday, SARE issued Read the Rest…
Moving toward the Brink as They Head out of Town
Friday, August 2nd, 2013
“This is b___s___” Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) expressing anger over having his transportation and housing appropriations bill pulled from the House floor by the GOP leadership. “With this action, the House has declined to proceed on the implementation of the very budget it adopted three months ago. Thus, I believe that the House has made Read the Rest…
