releases: https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-discusses-2018-farm-bill-in-facebook-live
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-discusses-2018-farm-bill-in-facebook-live | Donnelly Discusses 2018 Farm Bill in Facebook Live | 2018-10-05 | 2018 | 2018-10 | Democrat | House | IN | Joe Donnelly | D000607 | www.donnelly.senate.gov | legacy | Donnelly Discusses 2018 Farm Bill in Facebook Live Senator answered Hoosier questions and highlighted his provisions that would help Indiana's ag communities Friday, October 5, 2018 Washington, D.C. Yesterday on Facebook Live, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly answered questions from Hoosiers on the 2018 Farm Bill and highlighted his provisions in the Senate-passed bill that would support farmers, families, and rural communities. Donnelly answered questions on topics ranging from conservation and environmental protections, sustainable and responsible farming, concerns about family farms, the Administration's uncertain trade policies that have harmed farmers and rural communities, and where the Farm Bill currently stands. The 2014 Farm Bill expired on September 30th, and Donnelly has previously called for quick action to find agreement on a final version of the 2018 Farm Bill. To see Donnelly's Facebook Live, click the image above or click here. In August, the Senate sent its version of the bill to a conference committee, where it needs to be reconciled with the version that passed the House of Representatives earlier this year. Donnelly helped the Senate pass its version in June, which received strong, bipartisan support in 86-11 vote. It included a number of Donnelly-led provisions that would improve risk management, conservation, and export promotion programs; help fight opioid abuse; invest in the future of agriculture; and address food insecurity. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Donnelly helped craft the Senate's bill earlier this year. Some of the Hoosier priorities and Donnelly provisions included in the Senate-passed bill: Fighting the Opioid Epidemic:This bill includes three Donnelly-written provisions that would combat the opioid epidemic by targeting investments from the Telemedicine, Community Facility, and Rural Health and Safety programs for substance abuse treatment, prevention, and education programs. These provisions were developed from Donnelly's bipartisanrural opioids packageintroduced in 2017 with Ag Committee Chairman Roberts (R-KS), then-Senator Luther Strange (R-AL),and with Senator John Hoeven (R-ND). Promoting Impactful, Voluntary Conservation:The bill would ensure farmers are provided with the tools they need to be good stewards of the environment. It would eliminate potential disincentives for voluntary conservation practices like cover crops and would support soil health improvement programs. It would allow states to increase cost-sharing for the most impactful conservations practices. Donnelly heard about the importance of cover crops and conservation programs in several listening session stops, includingin 2017 in Knox Countyandin March 2018 with conservationists and sportsmen in Montgomery County. Ensuring Full Planting Flexibility:The bill would retain full planting flexibility for farmers who want to plant fruits and vegetables, ensuring farmers can diversify their farms without worrying about losing access to commodity support programs in the future. This builds on abipartisan bill Donnelly introduced with Senator Todd Young in December 2017, on Donnelly's work in the 2014 and 2008 farm bills, and on input from hislistening session at the Red Gold Tomato Farm in August 2017in Grant County. Developing New Markets:As Hoosier farmers work to navigate challenging international markets, the bill would increase export opportunities for Hoosier farmers through two export promotion programs, the Foreign Market Development Program and the Market Assistance Programbuilding on Donnelly's bipartisan legislationwith Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Angus King (I-ME), and Susan Collins (R-ME). Addressing Food Insecurity:The bill would strengthen oversight of the SNAP program and help fight food insecurityby reforming food assistance programs, while protecting access to benefits and maintaining the integrity of the programs. It would make it easier for seniors to access food assistance by reducing burdensome paperwork and increasing funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which was based on an amendment introduced by Donnelly on the Senate floor.In November 2017, Donnelly toured the Food Finders Food Bank Inc. in Lafayetteand met with representatives from statewide anti-hunger groups to bring their thoughts to the bill. Investing in the Future of Agriculture:The bill includes a Donnelly provision that would reauthorize and reorganize the New Era Rural Technology Program to help community colleges fund efforts to develop a workforce trained in precision agriculture management. Supporting Rural Communities:The bill would help rural communities attract investment and growth by improving the delivery of high-speed internet and investing inwaste- and drinking-water by infrastructure to ensure water systems are providing clean and reliable water. Through his work on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Donnelly has worked tirelessly to advocate for Hoosier farmers and rural communities. As part of the previous Farm Bill, Donnelly successfully pushed several measures important to Indiana that weresigned into law in 2014. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |