{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-farm-bill-with-king-led-provisions-to-benefit-rural-maine", "Senate Passes Farm Bill With King-Led Provisions to Benefit Rural Maine", "2018-12-11", "2018", "2018-12", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON,\r\nD.C. Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) voted in favor of the\r\nconference report to H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, more\r\ncommonly known as the Farm Bill. The report, which passed by a vote of 87 to\r\n13, includes a number of provisions that Senator King supported that will help\r\nMaine's farmers and rural communities.   Overwhelming\r\nbipartisan votes like today's don't come easy  they're the product of a lot of\r\nhard work, compromise, and consensus-building. Fortunately, if there's one\r\nthing that everyone, Republican, Democrat, or Independent, can agree on, it's\r\nthat farmers are the backbone of our rural economy and pillars of rural\r\ncommunities across the country, said Senator King. Today's passage of\r\nthe Farm Bill means a lot to the honey or maple producers who won't have to put\r\nmisleading labels on their pure products, and to the potato and blueberry\r\nfarmers who can continue growing their superior crops  which is only right,\r\nbecause the work these farmers do every day means a lot to the state of Maine.\r\nAnd though it may be called the Farm' Bill, the fact is that this legislation\r\nwill have an important effect on rural Maine people from all walks of life\r\nthrough its provisions to support innovation the forest economy and boost rural\r\nbroadband efforts. The legislation may have taken a lot of negotiation and\r\ndebate, but in the end, we're left with a bill that will help a lot of people.  This year's Farm\r\nBill includes several major victories supported by Senator King that will\r\ndirectly benefit Maine if they remain in the final bill signed by the\r\nPresident, including:  \r\nEVALUATING\r\nAND MODERNIZING THE FORMULA USED BY USDA TO SUPPORT COOPERATIVE EXTENSION\r\nPROGRAMS: Senators\r\nKing and Susan Collins (R-Maine) successfully included an amendment that\r\ndirects USDA to use the 2017 Census of Agriculture to better understand the\r\nchanging needs of agriculture and rural communities. Specifically, this aims to\r\nhelp Cooperative Extension programs better address the challenges facing small\r\nand diverse farms and ranches, veteran farmers and ranchers, value-added\r\nagriculture, direct-to-consumer sales, and specialty crops. Despite massive\r\nshifts in agriculture in recent years, this funding formula has not been\r\nevaluated in decades. \r\nSUPPORT\r\nINNOVATION FOR DAIRY FARMERS: This amendment, supported by Senator King, will establish\r\nregional initiatives to support innovation for Maine dairy businesses, foster\r\nthe research and development of new dairy products and support new dairy\r\nfarmers. The Dairy Business Innovation Act will provide $7 million in\r\ngrants to state departments of agriculture and other local agricultural leaders\r\nto support programs that promote dairy product innovation, process improvement,\r\nand marketing. \r\nCREATING\r\nOPPORTUNITIES FOR NEXT GENERATION OF FARMERS: This year's Farm Bill includes language from theNext\r\nGenerations in Agriculture Act. Senator King is a cosponsor of this\r\nlegislation, which creates permanent mandatory funding for education, training,\r\nand outreach to beginning farmers and ranchers by developing a new Farming\r\nOpportunities Training Outreach program, as well adding new authority for a\r\nNational Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coordinator and establishing new roles to\r\nhelp beginning farmers access USDA programs. \r\nEXEMPTING\r\nSINGLE INGREDIENT PRODUCTS FROM MISLEADING LABELS: A provision in this year's\r\nbill exempts pure, single ingredient foods like honey and maple syrup from\r\nrequirements to contain an added sugar label. Earlier this year, the FDA\r\nannounced the proposed change to help consumers be aware of the amount of\r\nsugar they are consuming, but maple and honey producers expressed concerns that\r\nthe new labels could mislead consumers into believing that sugar was added\r\nafter harvesting. Senator King has spoken\r\non the Senate floor against this proposal, and after his push, the FDA\r\nannounced they would be seeking a revised approach.  \r\nPROTECTING\r\nNUTRITION PROGRAMS:\r\nUnlike in the version of the Farm Bill passed by the House of Representatives,\r\nthe Senate bill does not jeopardize important nutrition program like SNAP.\r\nAdditionally, the legislation reduces red tape and increases support for\r\nseniors by extending certification periods in SNAP and the Commodity\r\nSupplemental Food Program (CSFP). The final bill increases funding to\r\nEmployment and Training Programs, makes some administrative changes designed to\r\nreduce improper payments in the program, and rejects harmful changes to work\r\nrequirements. \r\nCONTINUING\r\nSUPPORT AND RESEARCH FOR SPECIALTY CROPS: Maine's key crops, including blueberries and potatoes, are\r\nviewed as specialty crops by USDA. This legislation continues important\r\ninvestments in Specialty Crop Block Grants and the Specialty Crop Research\r\nInitiative, and in doing so, bolsters research, pest management efforts and\r\ninitiatives to improve competitiveness in the global market.  The legislation\r\nalso includes several additional King-backed victories that benefit Maine's\r\nrural economy and environment, including:  \r\nSUPPORT\r\nFOR ENGINEERED TIMBER:\r\nKey provisions of theTimber Innovation Act,which Senator King\r\ncosponsored along with Senator Collins, are included in the bill. This language\r\nwould accelerate the research and development ofcross laminated timber\r\nand other engineeredwood for use in construction projects and also\r\nprovide grants for such projects. This legislation, along with other efforts to\r\nfind new opportunities for the forest economy, is a key part ofSenator King's economic vision to grow Maine's rural\r\ncommunities. \r\nMODERNIZING\r\nRURAL BROADBAND PROGRAMS:\r\nThe bill includes provisions from two bills that Senator King cosponsored to\r\nadvance hisRural Broadband Roadmap. TheB-CROP Act(S.1676) modernizes the USDA Broadband Loan\r\nProgram into a combination grant/loan program and thePrecision Agriculture Connectivity Act(S.2343)\r\npromotes cooperation between the USDA and FCC in identifying gaps in broadband\r\ncoverage on agricultural lands. The bill also increases the statutory minimum\r\nbroadband service definition for the Broadband Grant and Loan Program to 25\r\nMbps download and 3 Mbps upload, matching a regulatory change whichSenator King pushed for in a May 2016 letter. \r\nDRASTICALLY\r\nINCREASING FUNDING FOR RURAL BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT: This year's Farm Bill\r\nauthorizes Congress to appropriate $350 million per year for high-speed\r\ninternet deployment  a drastic increase from the previous Farm Bill, when\r\nCongress was authorized to appropriate $25 million per year for high-speed\r\ninternet deployment. \r\nREAUTHORIZING\r\nNORTHERN BORDER REGIONAL COMMISSION: The legislation reauthorizes the NRBC through 2023, based\r\nonlegislation authored by Senators King and Collins. In\r\naddition to reauthorizing the NRBC, the legislation establishes a state\r\ncapacity building grant program that will help develop projects that support\r\nbusiness retention and expansion, access to high-speed broadband, critical\r\ninfrastructure development, and job creation throughout the region. \r\nCONSERVING\r\nNATURAL ECOSYSTEMS:\r\nThe bill funds and improves upon the Regional Conservation Partnership Program\r\n(RCPP), which is administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation\r\nService. In December 2016,the\r\nRCPP awarded a $6 million grantto a Maine partnership led by the\r\nNature Conservancy to help private forestland ownersreduce the impacts\r\nthat flooding has on road networks and restore more than 250 miles of fish\r\nhabitat in northern and eastern Maine. \r\nENSURING\r\nFAIRNESS IN FEDERAL BUYING OF FOREST PRODUCTS: The legislation includes a\r\nKing-backed provision that requires federal agencies to acceptmore\r\nmethods of sustainably harvested forest products. In June 2016,Senator\r\nKing led a letterurging the Department of Energy to support all\r\nforest certification standards, as the Department of Agriculture does. \r\nREAUTHORIZING\r\nCOMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY PROGRAM: This program, which expires at the end of 2018, promotes\r\nenergy security and incentivizes new uses for low-grade and low-value wood by offering competitive grants to assist state and\r\nlocal governments with the costs of installing high-efficiency, biomass-fueled\r\nenergy systems, such as combined heat and power (CHP). Senator King is a\r\ncosponsor of the Community\r\nWood Energy Innovation Act, a bill introduced by Senators Susan Collins\r\n(R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-farm-bill-with-king-led-provisions-to-benefit-rural-maine"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5685311518609524, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}