Senate
Mississippi primary at hand, what about the Democrat?
By Tuesday night, former Rep Ronnie Childers "could suddenly become one of the party’s vitally important Senate candidates for 2014 – and a rare Democratic nominee who clashes sharply with his national...
Everyone wants to give EQIP a haircut
Congress is on track to trim the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a cost-share program to reduce runoff from fields and feedlots, by as much as 16 percent from its authorized level of $1.6 billion. The FY15 USDA spending bills pending in the House and Senate each would cut the program; the House by $209 million and the Senate by $250 million.
Senate panel backs school lunch flexibility, not waivers
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted for flexibility in operating the school lunch program, a marked contrast to a House bill to allow waivers for some schools from the reforms written into a 2010 law. Conservatives say the reforms, which require more grains, fruits and vegetables in meals and less sugar, salt and fat, are too costly.
Senate opens work on tax “extenders” bill
Senators voted 96-3 to take up a bill that would retroactively reinstate five dozen tax breaks for two years at a cost of $81 billion. "Lawmakers overseeing tax policy have indicated that a final deal to extend all of the expired credits might not come until after the midterm elections," said The Hill newspaper. The Senate was scheduled to continue consideration today of a motion to proceed on the bill.
Vilsack urges House “pass something” on immigration reform
AgSec Vilsack, saying "there is no question the opportunity for immigration reform is now," urged House Republican leaders to "pass something so you create a vehicle" for a House-Senate compromise.
How partisan are partisan Senate polls?
That's the question, and headline, at FiveThirtyEight for a look at bias in polling in Senate campaigns. Based on 147 publicly released polls since 2002, analyst Harry Enten says polls conducted by a partisan group...
Senate panel clears CFTC nominees including new chairman
Three nominees for CFTC commissioner, including Timothy Massad for chairman, were approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday.
Cattle reformers in Senate unite on price discovery bill
In order to increase market transparency, four senators said on Tuesday they would file legislation to require meatpackers to buy a portion of their slaughter cattle on the cash market. The bill also would create a contract library that discloses the purchase terms that packers offer for cattle, so producers might know if a fair price is being offered.