Democrats
Three-way Democratic race at House Agriculture Committee
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig launched a campaign on Monday to be elected the Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee, joining two other candidates, California Rep. Jim Costa and Georgia Rep. David Scott, currently the ranking member. Costa and Craig say they will defend SNAP and climate funding in the new farm bill and carry a Democratic message to rural America, a weak spot for the party.
Consumers say political parties can fix high food prices—but only if their side wins
Just as presidents get credit for steering the U.S. economy, consumers in a University of Illinois survey said the two major political parties can help lower grocery prices — but only if their side is in charge. A minority of respondents in the poll released on Monday said the issue was beyond solution by politicians.
Walz seeks to flip the script on Republicans in the heartland
In FERN’s latest story, in partnership with The New York Times, reporter Ted Genoways explains how Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, is taking the fight to Republicans in rural America.
Democratic platform calls for net-zero agricultural emissions by 2050
The U.S. farm sector would be the first in the world to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with the assistance of projects such as the USDA's climate-smart agriculture initiatives, said the Democratic Party platform released on Monday. Delegates to the party's national convention in Chicago were scheduled to vote on the platform on Tuesday.
Ten and done, says midwestern Democrat in House
Approaching her 60th birthday, Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, announced she will retire in 2022 after 10 years in the House. "It will be a new decade and I feel it's time for a new voice," said Bustos. Her decision also reflected the shrinking influence of the farm and industrial heartland in the House.
Democratic platform redirects farm subsidies, boosts SNAP
Farm subsidies would be reformed "to better support small- and mid-sized farms" if Joe Biden is elected president, says the draft platform written ahead of next month's Democratic National Convention. "Democrats will increase funding for food assistance programs, including SNAP, WIC, and school meals."
Growing portion of Democratic ‘aggies’ supports investigation of Trump
Peterson increasingly isolated as Dems take aim at Trump
Ninety percent of House Democrats are on record in support of an impeachment inquiry, making House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson an outlier in arguing against it. Sometimes called the most conservative Democrat in the House, Peterson is nearly alone among members of his committee in questioning the investigation.
An Aggie tries to move up in House Democratic leadership
As House Democrats revel in electoral success, Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos says she knows, from first-hand experience prevailing in a Trump district, how the party can protect its newly won majority in the 2020 elections. Bustos, the only Midwesterner in party leadership, is one of four candidates for election on Wednesday to chair the Democratic campaign committee, a job that can launch a leadership career if Democrats win on election day.
Food policy group gives Congress failing grade
Congress "is falling short when it comes to food policy, showing little progress" this year, says Food Policy Action, established in 2012 as the food movement's voice in Washington. In releasing its annual scorecard of members of the House and Senate, the group said the average score was 49 percent, down from the 57 percent average of the two-year 114th Congress, which ended in 2016.
Heitkamp starts re-election drive for Senate seat she won narrowly in 2010
Former congressional staffer to run against House Ag panelist Rodney Davis
Third-term Rep Rodney Davis, a Republican member of the House Agriculture Committee and an early critic of the 2010 school lunch reforms, has a Democratic challenger for 2018, says Roll Call. A lawyer and former House staff worker, Erik Jones, has entered the race against Davis in the Republican-leaning district in downstate Illinois.
Food stamp enrollment to fall steadily in the decade ahead, says CBO
Enrollment in food stamps, the premiere U.S. antihunger program, soared after the 2008-09 recession, prompting conservative lawmakers to say middle-class taxpayers could not afford the program. With the economic recovery, CBO estimates food stamp participation this year will be the lowest since 2010 and will decline annually through 2027.
Bustos to run ‘heartland engagement’ as House Dems work for majority
House Democrats are targeting often-conservative rural districts in their drive to gain control of the House in the 2018 midterms, and the DCCC has named Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois to lead the effort.
Rural Democrats aim to recover from electoral losses
Vickie Rock, a member of the Democratic state central committee in Nevada, describes Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election this way: "The Democratic Party ceded rural America to the Republicans quite some time ago," reports Roll Call. It says rural Democrats "are now hatching plans to un-do the damage, convinced that a handful of simple steps would go a long way toward winning votes."
If it’s a bad night for GOP, Dems may have a chance in Central Valley
Two Republican-held House seats in the heavily agricultural Central Valley of California could be ripe for picking by Democrats if voters are riled by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's criticism of Hispanics and immigrants, says the Los Angeles Times. Rep. David Valadao, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees USDA and FDA funding, represents a district that is 71 percent Latino, and Agriculture Committee member Jeff Denham has a district that is 26 percent Latino.
Democratic platform boosts family farms, stewardship, clean energy
At its presidential convention opening today, the Democratic Party will adopt a platform that vows to support family farms, "provide a focused safety net" and encourage development of clean fuels. "We believe that in order to be effective in keeping our air and water clean and combatting climate change, we must enlist farmers as partners in promoting conservation and stewardship," says the 55-page draft.
Six new Democrats on House Agriculture Committee
Democrats tapped six newcomers for the House Agriculture Committee, including Gwen Graham of Florida, who defeated the Republican advocate of large cuts in food stamps.
Senate may vote this week on Section 179 tax break
The Senate is expected "in the coming days to restore more than 50 tax breaks, all of which expired at the end of 2013, just through the end of this year," including the Section 179 business expensing provision, says The Hill newspaper.