FEENSTRA ON FEDERAL BUDGET TALKS, FARMBILL
Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull says the U-S House will start voting tonight (Wednesday) on a series of budget bills, but there’s no deal yet on a temporary spending plan that would avert a federal government shutdown at the end of this week.
Feenstra says the House is scheduled to take votes on four of its 12 budget bills this week, with votes on the rest next week. The federal government’s fiscal year started October 1st, but congress has not agreed on a budget for the year. Instead, congress has passed three previous agreements to keep last year’s spending levels in place while budget negotiations continue. March 1st is the latest deadline for a final agreement. Feenstra says shutting down the U-S/Mexico border is the paramount issue for Republicans in these budget talks.
Feenstra expects the Farm Bill that sets a five year outline for crop insurance subsidies and food assistance programs will come up for a vote in the U-S House in late March or early April.
Feenstra spoke with reporters in Des Moines after filing nearly 38-hundred signatures on nominating papers for the June Primary. Feenstra, who represents Iowa’s fourth congressional district, is seeking a third term in the U.S. House. Feenstra faces a primary challenge from Kevin Virgil, a former Army Ranger and C-I-A officer who has the backing of former Congressman Steve King. Feenstra defeated King in the 2020 G-O-P Primary Election.
LEGISLATIVE PACE TO ACCELERATE
A Plymouth County legislator expects the pace to pick up now that bills are working through their respective committees. State Representative Tom Jeneary of Le Mars, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, says they are awaiting bills from other committees and the Senate.
Jeneary says this is one of slowest-paced legislative session in decades.
One issue has been holding lawmakers’ attention.
SENATOR GRASSLEY TO QUESTION SECRETARY VILSACK ON PASSAGE OF FARM BILL
The U-S Senate Agriculture Committee will hold an oversight hearing today on the U-S-D-A at which U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is scheduled to testify. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley wants to question Vilsack about the Commodity Credit Corporation. Grassley, a Republican, says the agency is being used as a “slush fund” to pay for a lot of things of which Congress didn’t approve.
The C-C-C was created in the 1930s and is designed to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices. Grassley co-sponsored a bill last year, saying the corporation was “at risk of becoming a slush fund for politically-driven pet projects.” He says the U-S-D-A Spending Accountability Act would save some eight-billion dollars over ten years.
Grassley says one key focus of the hearing will be on how to prompt Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to get moving on the farm bill, which is a vital piece of legislation for Iowa.
GENDER BALANCE RULE FOR STATE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARDS ELIMINATED
The Iowa House has given final legislative approval a bill that gets rid of the gender balance requirement for Iowa boards and commissions. Republicans, including Governor Reynolds, say the gender balance requirement often excludes the most qualified male or female candidates for state or local government boards or commissions. Reynolds says people with the most passion for the assignment should be picked, rather than someone who’d fill a slot reserved for a man or a woman. All but one Democrat in the legislature voted against the move, saying the goal of gender parity has encouraged more women to get involved in public service — but gender balance on many boards and in the legislature has not been met.
IOWA SENATE PASSES BILL TO CRACK DOWN ON FOOD MARKETED AS ‘MEAT’ THAT’S PLANT OR INSECT BASED
The Iowa Senate has unanimously voted to establish fines for food processors that sell products in Iowa with labels suggesting food made with plant or insect based protein is a meat-based product. If the bill passed by the Iowa Senate becomes law, food processors could be fined as much as 10-thousand dollars for selling something labeled as meat in Iowa when it’s not. Senator Dawn Driscoll’s family raises Angus cattle near Williamsburg, She says there’s a difference between lab grown or plant-based products and real beef, pork, turkey and chicken — and consumers should be able to recognize the difference when they see the label. The Fair Label Act now goes to the House for consideration.
APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS IOWA LAW BANNING SCHOOL MASK MANDATES
A federal appeals court has upheld a 2021 state law that bans schools from issuing mask mandates. A group of families filed a federal lawsuit, arguing Iowa schools must allowed to require masking to protect their children who have disabilities that make them vulnerable to respiratory illnesses. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the families do not have legal standing to sue the state. Governor Kim Reynolds issued a written statement after the ruling. Reynolds said while children were the least vulnerable, they paid the highest price for COVID lockdowns and mandates in other states and she would sign a mask ban for Iowa schools again if she has to.
