Source: Progressive Farmer
President Donald Trump signed the combined fiscal year 2021 omnibus appropriations and COVID-19 relief bill late Sunday after threatening to veto it.
The presidential signature means that, as part of the provisions in the bill, there will be more aid to farmers and a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the next six months.
The signing of the bill also averted a government shutdown that would have begun Monday at midnight. Trump demanded changes in the bill, though Congress was not required to follow his direction.
"I will sign the omnibus and covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed," Trump said in a statement.
"I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill."
Following the president's demands for bigger payments to individuals, the Democrat-controlled House voted 275-134 Monday to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000 and sent the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate, the Associated Press reported Monday evening. However, on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked Democrats' push to immediately bring the president's demand for $2,000 relief checks up for a vote, saying the chamber would "begin a process" to address the issue, Associated Press reported. Congress had originally settled on smaller $600 payments.
After Congress' passage of the appropriations and COVID-19 relief bill last Monday, the American Farm Bureau Federation and other farm groups highlighted some of the specific provisions for agriculture in the $900 billion aid package, as well as the $1.4 trillion overall government funding bill and tax-extenders package.
The aid package passed by Congress included specific provisions for aid to livestock producers. The American Farm Bureau Federation looked at assistance for cattle producers based on a per-head basis.
Nearly $1 billion will support a dairy donation program and supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage payments for small- and medium-sized producers. More help will be made available to specialty and non-specialty crop growers, and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will be expanded, which will allow small farmers to continue operating and paying their employees.