Today the Senate Agriculture Committee breezed through its mark up of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and sent the draft farm bill to the full Senate on a vote of 20-1 (Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA, voted “no”). The committee voted through a slate of amendments to the draft text released late last week. Dozens of amendments were incorporated into…
Senate Joins Farm Bill Fray Last Friday the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry released its draft farm bill, kicking off the Senate’s effort to pass new omnibus legislation before some provisions of the current law expire in September. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“AIA”), which arrives on the heels of the House’s failure to pass its own…
Last week 25 FBLE faculty, students, and staff descended on Capitol Hill to share our research and help Congress write a farm bill that creates opportunity for all farmers, provides a reliable safety net against hunger, and conserves the health of our shared natural resources. FBLE timed the trip to coincide with debate over the House farm bill, H.R. 2, which…
House Farm Bill Moves Out of Committee On Wednesday, House Republicans moved the first draft farm bill out of the House Agriculture Committee on a party-line vote. H.R. 2, or the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, will likely be considered by the full House within the next month. On the whole, H.R. 2 is an ominous cloud that portends…
Earlier today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) released the text of the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. In the coming days and weeks, FBLE will provide analysis of how the draft bill stacks up against the recommendations of our recent reports. In the meantime, you can read the Chairman’s highlights and critiques from leading sustainable agriculture, anti-poverty, and anti-hunger…
Three reports out today from the Farm Bill Law Enterprise (FBLE) apply a justice lens to the farm bill debate underway on Capitol Hill. FBLE’s reports coincide with the imminent release of draft farm bills in the House and Senate, which Congressional observers anticipate next month. The reports are the product of a novel partnership between eight law school programs:…