WASHINGTON, DC (The Hinton News) – Senator Jim Justice voted to advance the Farm Bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee and applauded Republicans’ commitment to get it passed.
“Farmers carry the weight of this nation on their shoulders, and they are relying on us to get the Farm Bill across the finish line. Ag Committee has now made a step in the right direction to do just that. Our family farms and the future of our small towns depend on the policies that we create, and we can’t leave them behind. I am grateful to see some of my own priorities included in this bill and many other bipartisan pieces of legislation. Now, the Senate needs to keep our foot on the gas to get this done in a bipartisan way, because our agricultural community deserves nothing less than that,” said Senator Jim Justice.
BACKGROUND:
The Farm Bill includes several priorities championed by Senator Justice, including:
- Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act: Allows hot rotisserie chicken to be purchased with SNAP benefits.
- Strengthening Local Food Security Act: Directs USDA and state departments of agriculture to partner with food banks and schools to purchase locally grown food.
- Ruffed Grouse Habitat: Includes an amendment to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) reaffirming the importance of forested habitat for upland game birds, including ruffed grouse.
- Farm Credit Rural Housing Authority Study: Requires a study of the need for Farm Credit to increase its authority to provide rural home loans.
- FLOOD Act: Allows practices used under the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program to be used under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to help protect watersheds.
