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August 8, 2012
07:04 AM ET
Drought Assistance Bill Passes U.S. House
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A day before leaving for their August recess, having thrown in the towel on passing a one-year extension of the Farm Bill, and never considering their own Agriculture Committee’s 2012 Farm Bill on the chamber floor for discussion, the U.S. House passed the Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012 (H.R. 6233). The measure is a stopgap to provisions that expired on September 30th, 2011. Nearly $350 million of the $383 million bill are focused on aid to livestock and livestock forage producers. However, approximately $16 million would be made available for the Tree Assistance Program which provides assistance to orchardists and nursery tree growers for tree and shrub mortality and damage due to natural disasters, such as the current drought. The bill passed the U.S. House by a vote of 223 – 197 and awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate. The measure would be paid for by cost offsets from USDA conservation programs.
Filed under: Farm Bill • legislation
About the Authors
Craig Regelbrugge
Craig Regelbrugge serves as the American Nursery & Landscape Association's Vice President for Government Relations and Research. He serves in several leadership positions regarding the green industry and labor and immigration reform. He is national co-chair of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform (ACIR), working to secure an affordable and legal workforce for nursery and greenhouse growers. In 2008 he was elected vice chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Forum, and represents agriculture and the green industry on the management team of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign.
 
 
Joe Bischoff
Dr. Joe Bischoff is ANLA's Director of Government Relations. Focused on legislative and regulatory issues connected to pest and disease management, Joe also works in collaboration with the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), the research arm of ANLA, to develop and implement strategies for responding to new pest and disease challenges facing the industry. He was recently appointed to the Federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC), serves on the Tier 2 Commodity Committee for the National Clean Plant Network – Fruit Trees, and is on the Research Committee of the National Ornamentals Research Site at Dominican University of California. Before joining the ANLA in February 2012, Dr. Bischoff was National Mycologist with the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA.
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