{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0adfff8b-9616-48c7-b013-004c7bf5287b", "Key Portion of Portman, Franken and Baldwin Bill to Address Propane Price Spikes Set to Become Law", "2014-12-11", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Rob Portman", "P000449", "www.portman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Key provisions of a bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to help prevent future propane price spikes is set to become law after clearing the House and Senate.\r\nThe legislation that passed is part of a comprehensive bipartisan bill the Senators introduced earlier this year. Last year's propane crisis hit particularly hard because many rural families and farmers in the Midwest are dependent on propane to heat their homes or livestock. Last winter, many of them found themselves in the untenable position of having to choose between purchasing propane at very high prices or going without.\r\nThe portion of the bill that is set to become law would give propane distributors additional tools to get their product to consumers when supplies are high and prices are low. Making this fix will help the propane industry curb price spikes, and seeks to prevent another propane crisis like the one that hit families, farmers, and businesses across the Midwest and other parts of the country last winter.\r\n\u201cLast winter\u2019s propane shortage caused a tremendous burden for the Ohioans who rely on propane to heat their homes and Ohio livestock operations,\u201d said Sen. Portman. \u201cI\u2019m pleased this commonsense legislation is now law so we can be better prepared moving forward.\u201d\r\n\u201cWhen the propane crisis hit last winter, I traveled around Minnesota and heard from families and producers about how much it hurt them,\u201d said Sen. Franken, Chairman of the Senate Energy Subcommittee. \u201cI heard from everyone\u2014from homeowners who couldn\u2019t afford to heat their homes to turkey growers struggling to heat their barns. I\u2019m pleased that we were able to get this bipartisan bill across the finish line to help prevent future propane price crises by letting consumers figure out their fuel needs and costs.\u201d\r\n\u201cNearly 250,000 Wisconsin residents and countless businesses throughout my state weathered a severe propane crisis this last winter,\u201d said Sen. Baldwin. \u201cI\u2019m proud of the progress we have made on our goal to prevent a future crisis. This bipartisan bill takes commonsense action to help prevent shortages and keep consumer prices down.\u201d\r\nThe bipartisan measure was also cosponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), David Vitter (R-La.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Kelly Ayotte (D-N.H.).\r\n\r\n###", 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.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0adfff8b-9616-48c7-b013-004c7bf5287b"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4843079261481762, "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"}