L LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

Infrastructure improvements in store for rural America

By Sean O’Neil

Legislative Assistant

In the fall of 2021, Congress and the White House were able to come to a rare bipartisan agreement on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill titled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The bill, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, includes unprecedented investments in hard infrastructure projects, including many in rural America, without levying new taxes.

Of specific interest to the National Grange, the bill allocates $65 billion to broadband expansion, $110 billion for roads and bridges, including a new $2 billion rural transportation grant program, $66 billion for rail networks and terminals, $17 billion for ports and waterways, $55 billion for water infrastructure, and $10 billion for a USDA pilot program in partnership with land grant universities to study the benefits of using materials derived from agricultural commodities in the production of consumer goods.

To ensure that the money allocated by the bill is spent in a way which actually solves the challenges facing rural America, the National Grange will be spending significant time over the next few years following up with the various federal and state agencies which will be disbursing funds.

Following the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure package in November, Congressional Democrats shifted their focus for December to a larger spending package dealing with issues such as climate change and welfare spending which would also include increased taxes on wealthy Americans, collectively titled the Build Back Better bill.

As originally written, the package included changes to capital gains and inheritance taxes which would have negatively impacted many farmers; however advocacy from the National Grange and other farm groups successfully pressured Democrats to remove the proposed changes from the bill.

The bill was similarly whittled down by moderate Democratic Senators including Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and ultimately Manchin declared that he would not support the bill in its current form. Democrats in Congress and the White House have not given up on passing some amount of the priorities contained in the Build Back Better bill, and negotiations are ongoing behind closed doors to resurrect key elements which are able to garner the necessary support from Democratic moderates.

With President Biden’s Build Back Better bill stalled, Democrats in Congress spent January moving onto other topics.

In early January, Congressional Democrats and President Biden made a move to pass a large elections reform bill which would have restored Justice Department review of changes to state election law in states with a history of discrimination (as had been the case until reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act failed in recent years), expanded and created a federal standard for vote by mail and drop boxes, increased early voting options, curbed large and anonymous political donations, and allowed for same-day voter registration.

This bill was able to pass the House of Representatives along party lines, but failed in the Senate as Democrats were not able to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold and, though they supported the underlying legislation, Senators Manchin and Sinema did not join their Democratic colleagues in voting to eliminate the filibuster for voting rights legislation which would have allowed the bill to pass with a simple majority.

With the battle over elections reforms resolved without any legislative action, Congress returned to some bills which had been simmering since early 2021.

One example is the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), a bill which would increase funding for domestic manufacturing and research into key technologies such as semiconductors, along with a number of other provisions intended to strengthen American supply chains, which a bipartisan group of Senators introduced and passed in 2021.

In late January 2022, the House of Representatives finally offered its response to the Senate passed USICA which includes a number of significant changes to the bill. Following the release of the House bill, Democratic leadership in the House and Senate made it clear that they intend to reconcile both versions of the bill and pass them quickly this Spring.

Some Republicans have expressed concerns about the House version of the bill, and it is likely that significant changes will have to be made to ensure that the final bill is able to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate and become law.

As well, bills which the National Grange has supported in agriculture

including the Growing Climate Solutions Act and the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act which were both introduced in 2021 are in ongoing negotiations in both chambers of Congress.

Finally, in January and February Congress has been faced with some highly time-sensitive issues that it is going to have to address.

In late January, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to retire this summer and President Biden announced his nomination of current US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the seat, leaving the Senate with the timeconsuming task of confirming a new Supreme Court justice this spring.

Yet more, in late February Russia began a brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine which has already led to significant casualties on both sides, including many Ukrainian civilians. In response, the United States and many allied nations have levied devastating sanctions against the Russian government and have increased military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

The ongoing invasion has also led to significant secondary effects for both the American and global economy with serious fluctuations in agricultural commodity markets and increased oil prices among the most serious side effects. So far, the Ukrainian military and government have fared better than many expected, but it is not yet clear if or when the war will end.

Lastly, negotiations continue on a final package to fund the government for the 2022 fiscal year as a mid-March deadline looms to pass funding or else face a government shutdown.

In the fall of 2020, the bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Designation Act was signed into law, requiring that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designate 988 as a new threedigit number connecting to the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. The bill was enacted with bipartisan support in the House and Senate, along with the support of thenPresident Trump, the FCC and a diverse range of civil society groups.

Following the enactment of the law, the FCC set a deadline of July 16, 2022 for state governments to set aside the necessary funding to develop the necessary telecommunications infrastructure to allow anyone who calls or texts 988 to be connected to the national suicide hotline. However, so far only four states have set aside the funding necessary to support the 988 system by the federal deadline of July 16, 2022. Many state governments are currently rushing to create support systems for 988 so that the line will be fully operational by summer, but mental health groups are concerned that some states will miss the deadline and have to delay 988 service in their jurisdiction.

- By Sean O’Neil, Grange Legislative Assistant