federal budget
What will the USDA budget mean for local food?
The release of a President’s budget proposal triggers a lengthy sausage-making process. As we continue examining the 2018 skinny budget proposal released by the Trump White House earlier this spring, it’s important to keep that in mind: the final 2018 budget will probably not look a lot like the President’s proposal, if history is any guide.
Activists prepare to fight Trump over Chesapeake Bay budget cuts
President Trump’s budget slashes all funding to the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program, but environmental activists and bipartisan supporters of the program say they are prepared for a sustained fight with the President, says The Washington Post.
Ranchers hit by wildfire say federal aid doesn’t cut it
After wildfires killed seven people and ravaged more than a million acres of rangeland in Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Texas panhandle, ranchers say they aren’t getting the relief they need from the federal government, reports The New York Times.
White House would end McGovern-Dole school food program for poor
The Agriculture Department would see a 21 percent cut in discretionary spending under President Trump's budget proposal, including elimination of the McGovern-Dole programs that provide food for schoolchildren in poor countries and a grant and loan program for water and sewer projects in rural communities.
Rep. Bishop calls for $50 million to fund public lands transfer
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop has put in a budget request to allocate $50 million to pay for costs related to transferring federal land to states, says The Hill. One of the loudest voices in the land transfer movement, the Republican senator from Utah Senator argued in his request that “poorly managed federal lands create a burden for surrounding states and communities.”
House defeats Trump-backed government funding bill
One day after President-elect Donald Trump shot down a stopgap government funding bill, the House defeated a Trump-backed bill written by Republicans to keep the government running until March 14. The GOP bill included $31 billion to buffer the impact in rural America of natural disasters and lower farm income.