News
Benefits for ag outlined in House Appropriations bill
The US House Appropriations Committee recently debated 12 funding bills with one securing multiple benefits for agriculture.
Representative Cheri Bustos, a Democrat from Illinois, serves on both the House Agriculture and Appropriations committees. She tells Brownfield she is most proud of the critical funds outlined water infrastructure and rural broadband.
“We have almost $1.5 billion for water projects and $1 billion for broadband which includes $990 million for the USDA’s Reconnect Program.”
Bustos says those were the top two concerns in a survey of her constituents, but the bill also touches on mental health support for farmers and bolstering the use of biofuels to reduce emissions.
“On top of that, we set aside about $3.5 billion for agricultural research and it is worth noting that is $90 million more than this past year’s level.”
Bustos says she expects the full House will approve the bill by the end of the month before it is compared with the relative Senate appropriations bill.
