Congressional Republicans who opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, the main funding mechanism for President Joe Biden's climate policy, would like to move the IRA's funding for climate-related farming practices into the farm bill, which could permanently boost funding for conservation programs.
As reported earlier, the fight over the debt ceiling will be the driving force to what gets done or not done in this Congress. Because of the critical financial impact of raising the debt ceiling, something has to get done. This is a big test for new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Here are McCarthy’s challenges as outlined by Punchbowl news:
Farmers and western conservation groups called for faster access to funding under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program at a Senate hearing Thursday, saying RCPP is important for farmers in drought-stricken areas.
More than 36,000 transportation improvement projects – including at least one in every congressional district – have moved forward in the past 16 months as implementation of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) continues, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Chair Paula Hammond told a congressional panel March 28.
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and a coalition of agriculture and conservation organizations sent a letter to congressional appropriations leaders requesting at least $1.2 billion for NRCS Conservation Operations and full authorized funding for farm bill conservation programs in Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). More than 50 organizations signed the letter to support the requests. Nearly 90 percent of NRCS Conservation Operations funding supports Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), which facilitates the implementation of on-the-ground conservation by supporting our conservation workforce, conservation planning, and the extension of specialized technical assistance to producers.
Commodity groups face some critical farm bill decisions in coming weeks that hinge on factors out of their control, including an updated forecast of farm program costs and uncertainty about the ongoing debt ceiling standoff between the White House and House Republicans.
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) released policy recommendations for the 2023 Farm Bill. Over the last year, NACD’s Farm Bill Task Force has convened more than a dozen times to review USDA conservation programs and consider policies to strengthen support for voluntary, locally led conservation efforts. The recommendations were recently approved by NACD’s Board by Directors at NACD’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
After five jam-packed days of innovative product launches and major company announcements, enlightening education sessions and countless networking opportunities, CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2023 have come to a close, but not before taking the construction industry to the next level.
With bipartisan support, the Senate passed legislation to repeal a new Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule expanding federal permitting jurisdiction over wetlands and more construction projects.
After five jam-packed days of innovative product launches and major company announcements, enlightening education sessions and countless networking opportunities, CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2023 came to a close last Saturday but not before taking the construction industry to the next level.