Good afternoon,
Registration is now open for OCP's second <a href="[link removed]">Rural Progress Summit</a>!
The Summit will take place Wednesday, June 7 through Friday, June 9 and will feature discussions addressing the most pressing issues facing rural America and innovative solutions from both policymakers and thought leaders.
<a href="[link removed]">SIGN UP HERE</a>
OCP STATEMENT ON APRIL JOBS REPORT
The U.S. added <a href="[link removed]">253,000 jobs</a> in April, contributing to a total of 12.7 million jobs created under the Biden administration -- <a href="[link removed]">3.1 million</a> of which were created by small businesses.
Rural America gained <a href="[link removed]">738,000 jobs</a> in the last two years, but still have 215,000 fewer jobs as of 2022 than before the pandemic. The policies Democrats have proposed in Congress demonstrate progress towards recovery and stability, but the GOP's reckless proposal to tie the debt ceiling down to budget negotiations threatens default within weeks, a subsequent recession, and the loss of <a href="[link removed]">780,000 jobs</a>.
<a href="[link removed]">Most Americans</a> -- across party lines -- agree that the debt limit should be lifted separately from federal spending negotiations. Republicans are ignoring bipartisan consensus and seeking to <a href="[link removed]">slash vital funding</a> for small businesses, veterans' programs, nutrition assistance, and other critical support that <a href="[link removed]">rural communities</a> rely upon just as pandemic-era expanded <a href="[link removed]">Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)</a> and <a href="[link removed]">Medicaid</a> benefits come to an end.
<a href="[link removed]">Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow</a> pointed out that cuts would also negatively impact the Farm Bill's agricultural programs. Testimony in last week's <a href="[link removed]">Senate Agriculture hearing</a> described how a default would greatly reduce producers' ability to pay off loans for crucial inputs like seeds and fertilizer.
Today, President Biden is meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (D-Ky.) to discuss <a href="[link removed]">lifting the debt limit</a>.
FORECAST FOR FOOD PRICES
Adding to agricultural uncertainty, an impending El Niño, which dries the Central and Southern Plains -- intensifying the prolonged drought -- may <a href="[link removed]">decrease American agricultural production</a>.
A disruption in crop production could further <a href="[link removed]">spike</a> <a href="[link removed]?">food costs</a> and exacerbate <a href="[link removed]">increasing</a> <a href="[link removed]">food insecurity</a> across the country. Intensifying climate change and more frequent extreme weather events -- from droughts to floods -- threaten agriculture practices and food supply chains throughout the country and across the globe.
IRA PLANTS SEEDS FOR SUSTAINABLE AG
The U.S. has committed to achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. The agriculture sector is a <a href="[link removed]">significant greenhouse gas emitter</a> -- farm-level production generates two-thirds of food companies' emissions.
Fortunately, the Inflation Reduction Act incentivizes sustainable agriculture practices that will help abate emissions and make farms more climate resilient. The historic climate bill includes $19.5 billion for six agriculture programs, including the <a href="[link removed]">Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)</a>, <a href="[link removed]">Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)</a>, and the <a href="[link removed]">Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)</a>. EDF and Deloitte detail how to activate different avenues of funding in their recent report.
This week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will host the <a href="[link removed]">Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate Summit</a>, featuring former Vice President Al Gore and agriculture ministers from a variety of counties, to discuss increasing food production while decreasing emissions in advance of COP28.
HEARING THINGS
Today, the House Ways and Means Committee held a field hearing on <a href="[link removed]">Trade in America: Securing Supply Chains and Protecting the American Worker</a> on Staten Island, New York.
Tomorrow, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to nominate Xochitl Torres Small to be <a href="[link removed]">Deputy Secretary of Agriculture</a>.
Also tomorrow, the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development and the Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion will hold a joint hearing on the <a href="[link removed]">Future of Digital Assets: Measuring the Regulatory Gaps in the Digital Asset Market</a>.
On Thursday, the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture will hold a hearing focusing on <a href="[link removed]">stakeholder perspectives on agricultural trade</a>.
ONE COUNTRY IN THE NEWS
Last week, OCP board member and Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels' bill to eliminate the state overtime tax -- and put money back in hard-working Alabamians' pockets -- <a href="[link removed]">passed the House with unanimous support</a>.
OCP founder and former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp appeared on <a href="[link removed]">CNBC this morning</a> to preview President Biden and Congressional leadership's debt limit meeting, and will appear on CNBC's Last Call this evening for a post-meeting reaction. <a href="[link removed]">Tune in tonight</a>.
ICYMI
Roll Call: <a href="[link removed]">Senate Agriculture leaders differ on shifting funds to farm bill</a>
Iowa Capital Dispatch: <a href="[link removed]">Agriculture leaders urge a stronger farm safety net at U.S. Senate farm bill hearing</a>
Agri-Pulse: <a href="[link removed]">Rural bankers ask for tax exemptions at Senate Ag hearing</a>
KGOU: <a href="[link removed]">Another relief program's end returns some Oklahomans to food insecurity</a>
MPR News: <a href="[link removed]">'Are we worth support?': Rural Minnesota papers face challenges, community loses</a>
The Hill: <a href="[link removed]">Rural housing crunch ‘ripe and ready' for legislative fix, lawmakers say</a>
Urban Institute: <a href="[link removed]">Housing and Human Services Programs Aren't Meeting Rural Renters' Needs</a>
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