By Ben Conner Director of Policy for U.S. Wheat Associates March 1, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office released the President’s Trade Policy Agenda for 2017. This document lays out the key trade policy principles and objectives of the Trump Administration. Probably the best word to describe this agenda is aggressive. Some might have expected a word like transformative or even cataclysmic, ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Monday marked the 57th day of the legislative session. Over the next two days, all bills must pass out of their house of origin to remain eligible to move forward this year unless they are necessary to implement the budget. The deadline to pass bills out of the house of origin is Wednesday, March 8 at 5 ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Friday marked the 49th day and the second cut-off deadline of the 2017 Legislative Session. Last week was focused on the fiscal committees hearing and passing out bills with a fiscal impact. Last Friday was the deadline for bills to pass out of fiscal committees unless they are bills needed to pass the budget. Over the ... Read More »
From Agri-Pulse When Sen. Debbie Stabenow sat at the helm of the Senate Committee on Agriculture for the first time in 2011, there was a row of seats filled by ranking member Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and other Republican senators on her left. Democrats lined up in chairs on the right. Staff filled in all along the back walls of the ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyst Last Friday, we reached the first deadline of the legislative session. Any policy bills that did not move out of their original committee by last Friday at 5 p.m. are dead for this session (unless otherwise revived). This drastically reduces the list of bills that are likely to move this session. The only legislation not ... Read More »
By Trista Crossley During last month’s trip to Olympia to advocate for the Washington wheat industry, several members and staff of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) testified in front of the Washington State Senate’s Agriculture, Water, Trade and Economic Development Committee during a public hearing on SB 5051, a bill relating to nondefault termination provisions in state land ... Read More »
Friday was the 28th day of the 2017 Legislative Session and the end of week 4. There have been 1721 bills introduced thus far. The first legislative deadline is Feb. 17 when all policy bills must pass out of their policy committee to remain alive. Senate republicans regain their majority after a temporary tie Last week, the Senate was temporarily tied ... Read More »
For the past week, leadership and staff of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers has been back in Washington, D.C., meeting with our congressional delegation and taking part in the National Association of Wheat Growers’ winter board meeting. Read More »
This week, the leadership and staff of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers is in Washington, D.C., to meet with the state’s federal delegation as well as agency heads. The 2017 federal priorities the association will be discussing include: • WAWG supports maintaining and an increase of funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program. ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Senate republicans have temporarily lost the majority due to one of their members, Sen. Brian Dansel (R-Republic), resigning last week to take a job in the Trump Administration as a special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. With Dansel’s resignation, the Senate is currently tied at 24-24 until a replacement is appointed to fill the ... Read More »
WAWG