Prices for Some Key Components Have Already Begun Rising in January While New Buy America Requirements Will Inflate the Cost of Many Materials, Construction Association Officials Caution
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Category: Legislative Updates
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Washington filled back up quickly after the holidays as Congress convened, or tried to, right after the New Year. After a few days of getting the rust off, finding their offices and trying to pick a Speaker, work will soon launch to address key issues facing the country. As of now, no Speaker has been elected.
For LICA members, a new farm bill must be passed this year. The House Agriculture Committee has a new chairman, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), who is already taking his colleagues out to get feedback from farmers on what a new bill should look like. Senate Ag chair Debbie Stebenow (R-MI) announced this week that she will not seek re-election in 2024.
In addition to the farm bill, a key theme I will be watching this year is the new House majority’s commitment to reduce federal funding. Both the farm and highway bills annually require a significant amount of federal funds to achieve their program commitments. Stay tuned.
Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), a key Republican House leader, put forward details on which bills Republicans are expected to take up first. Among the 11 initial bills are two related to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR):
• One would prohibit the release of oil from the reserve without a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands
• The other would prohibit the sale of SPR oil to entities owned, controlled or influenced by the Chinese Communist party
• These bills are unlikely to make it past a Democratic-led Senate and White House, but are important opening messages for the GOP.
The Biden administration's new “waters of the U.S.” rule came under immediate criticism from farm groups and their GOP allies in Congress, who said it could expand federal jurisdiction over agricultural lands.
View MoreOn November 29, 2022 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule to reclassify the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The bat faces extinction due to the range-wide impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting cave-dwelling bats across the continent.
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The annual end of the year battle is taking place as Congress must pass legislation to fund the government before leaving town for the year. This is done in the spirit of Christmas and attempts by leadership in making – or not making because not everyone has been nice - the final bill a Christmas tree full of gifts, and additional spending. Certain Republicans, preparing for their recently won, albeit narrow majority, are making waves about what not to spend money on with threats of holding the final bill hostage and potentially shutting down the government. Trust me, no Member of Congress wants to be in Washington for the holidays!
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Current House Minority Leader and Speaker Wannabe Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is being asked to play Santa Claus in exchange for conservatives to support him in January as the next Speaker. Most of the gifts are in changes to how the House operates in terms of rules and committee assignments. Sounds simple until you have to govern under the rules you have committed to your new majority.
Republicans galvanized around a plan this year as fundamental to their future leadership. The “Commitment to America” organizes various pledges under four broad categories: the economy, safety, freedom and accountability. The outline is an attempt to harness the historical success of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America,” which propelled GOP gains during President Bill Clinton’s first term.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices around the country are gearing up to take in a surge of Inflation Reduction Act funding centered around the conservation programs they operate.
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Rumblings from the Democratic Party leaders about changes to primary elections would take Iowa out of the early voting have sent some in Iowa scrambling. This recent piece in the Des Moines Register also has folks watching as Iowa leads in politics and farming.
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The annual rush for Congress to finish their must do business and head home for the holidays is underway. This year is somewhat different as majority changes in the House has resulted in leadership changes of the parties and committees. Whether the new House Republican leader – TBD – will be able to centralize power or succumb to demands to decentralize leadership control will determine how cohesive an agenda is put forward next year. Divided government often brings out the best - and the worst - on both sides of the aisle.
The typical end of year must pass bill is agreement on next year’s government funding. A cap is generally agreed to with other high priority issues –Defense, Covid and Ukraine funding topping this year’s list – negotiated to avoid the shutdown of government programs.