Senate

Dan Newhouse says he's frustrated over the lack of movement on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.  The legislation cleared the House of Representatives in March 2021 and since then has been in a holding pattern in the Senate.  The central Washington Republican said time is running out. "Ther...

Last week, the House and Senate each passed the Keep Kids Fed Act, but the bill had to return to the House because the Senate version was slightly different.  The Hagstrom Report said the House passed the Senate’s version of the bill that requires the re-establishment of the reduced price category that Rand Paul of Kentucky insisted on including in the Senate version. The agreeme...

Senate Ag Republicans recently confronted USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack over soaring farm input costs, declining profits, overregulation, and the top issue on nearly everyone's mind: inflation. Vilsack insisted he’s doing everything he can to boost production and reduce fertilizer costs. ...

Last week, the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously passed its Water Resources Development Act of 2022. WRDA provides improvements for the nation’s ports, inland waterways, locks, dams, flood protection, ecosystem restoration, and other water resources infrastructure. It’s good ...

As lawmakers start a new year in Washington D.C., one of the biggest questions the farming community is hoping to see addressed revolves around Ag labor and immigration reform. Dan Newhouse, coauthor of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, said despite passing the House, the legislation has stalled in the Senate, primarily because President Biden’s Build Back Better contains some provisions to a

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is applauding the House of Representatives after passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which looks to make it easier for American Ag products to find a ride to overseas destinations. While red meat exports are on a record pace this year, USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom said shipping delays and obstacles remain a major concern for exporters and their customers

Last week, the House passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, legislation cosponsored by Washington representative Kim Schrier, as an effort to address some of the supply chain issues. In recent months, ocean liners from China and other countries have been returning to their home ports empty after delivering to the U ...

The Senate and the House passed a Continuing Resolution to fund federal agencies through December 3rd. The CR provides $10 billion in much-needed disaster relief for losses incurred by farmers and ranchers in 2020 and 2021. It also extends Livestock Mandatory Reporting through December 3rd ...

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled against the Democrats’ plan to provide eight million green cards as a part of their $3.5 trillion spending bill. According to The Hill, that decision makes getting immigration reform to President Biden’s desk much harder. The Ameri ...

The fate of a trillion-dollar Senate-passed infrastructure bill now rests on a commitment by House Democratic leaders to hold a late September vote, but still do so after a final budget package popular with progressives is ready. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern guaranteed their offer to Democratic moderates, to hold a vote on infrastructure, by a date certain ... Read M