{"id":2964,"date":"2020-11-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/merkley-unveils-ag-bill-that-includes-tens-of-millions-for-oregon-priorities\/"},"modified":"2023-07-24T11:06:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T15:06:08","slug":"merkley-unveils-ag-bill-that-includes-tens-of-millions-for-oregon-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-unveils-ag-bill-that-includes-tens-of-millions-for-oregon-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley presenta proyecto de ley agr\u00edcola que incluye decenas de millones para las prioridades de Oreg\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, announced Tuesday that he has won support in the Senate agricultural spending bill for a wide variety of agriculture, housing, food assistance, and rural business priorities that will benefit Oregon’s farms and families throughout the state.<\/p>\n

Merkley will now push for this bill to pass and be signed into law as Congress negotiates a spending package to avert a government shutdown in December.<\/p>\n

“Every year, I travel to each of Oregon’s 36 counties to hear from each of Oregon’s diverse communities about the issues that matter most to them,” said Merkley, who co-authored today’s bill. “In every corner of our state, I’ve heard about the need for affordable housing and reliable, good paying jobs—especially as the coronavirus crisis’ toll on our health and economy continues to deepen. I fought hard to ensure that those insights, and the specific ideas and priorities Oregonians have shared with me, would make it into this bill, so we can strengthen the vitality of our communities and keep delivering the world-class agricultural products Oregon is known for.”<\/p>\n

Merkley es el \u00fanico miembro del Congreso de Oreg\u00f3n de cualquier c\u00e1mara desde el Senador Mark Hatfield que forma parte del Comit\u00e9 de Apropiaciones, considerado uno de los m\u00e1s poderosos del Capitolio. Se uni\u00f3 al comit\u00e9 en 2013 para que Oreg\u00f3n tuviera una voz fuerte en las decisiones sobre las inversiones que nuestra naci\u00f3n deber\u00eda hacer.<\/p>\n

Key elements to benefit Oregonians that Merkley fought to include in Tuesday’s bill are:<\/p>\n

Wine Grape Smoke Exposure Research: This year’s unprecedented wildfire season blanketed much of the state of Oregon with dense, hazardous smoke, which has significantly impacted Oregon’s wine grape harvest. To better understand the challenges facing Oregon’s wine growers, the bill includes $3.5 million for research into smoke-impacted grapes at Oregon State University (OSU) and other West Coast universities, building on $2 million secured the prior appropriations cycle.<\/p>\n

Rural Housing: The bill includes $1.41 billion for rental assistance and $34 million for Rural Housing Service Vouchers, which will help address the urgent housing crisis facing Oregon’s rural communities.<\/p>\n

Rural Development: The bill protects funding for a number of USDA’s Rural Development programs, including rural housing and business development programs which President Trump proposed eliminating. These programs make billions of dollars of investments in rural America every year.<\/p>\n

National Scenic Area: The bill includes $2 million to help Oregon’s rural communities promote economic development through the Oregon and Washington Investment Boards, rounding out a $10 million commitment that was authorized when the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area was created. <\/p>\n

Soil Health: The bill includes $1.5 million for the establishment of a Soil Carbon Research Center at OSU focused on research into current and future dryland production practices to increase profitability and yield, conserve soil, enhance soil water storage, and promote sequestration of carbon for soil health.<\/p>\n

Water Conservation and Habitat Restoration: The bill includes $30 million for the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations in Oregon. Funding is included for irrigation districts that need to improve water efficiency and conservation or otherwise improve fish and wildlife habitat. This program is providing critical funding for the collaborative processes underway across the state working to conserve water and keep Oregon’s family farms in business while improving the habitats of endangered species. Construction has begun on several key projects to address water resource interests in Central Oregon, including in the Distrito de Riego Tumalo<\/a> y Distrito de riego de Oreg\u00f3n central<\/a>, and funding announced Tuesday will allow further expansion.<\/p>\n

Pacific Shellfish: The bill includes $3.5 million of federal funding for cutting-edge research to improve the productivity, sustainability, and health of the Pacific shellfish agricultural system. This research is critical to efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate chaos on the health and economies of Oregon’s coastal communities.<\/p>\n

Western Rangeland Livestock: The bill includes $3 million for the establishment of a Western Rangeland Precision Livestock center to develop precision-based nutrition strategies for rangeland-based livestock, as well as technology-based rangeland and livestock management strategies to optimize the health and productivity of Western rangeland-based livestock and the rangeland ecosystem. This funding will be split among land grant universities in Oregon, Montana, and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Agricultural Research: The Agricultural Research Service received an increase of $84 million in funding for cutting-edge research to improve the productivity, sustainability, and health of the nation’s agricultural systems. In addition, Merkley was able to secure funding for key Oregon agriculture research programs, including funding for research on the Sudden Oak Death pathogen plaguing the south coast. Other research funding victories include research for alfalfa, barley, tree fruits, pear, wheat, hops, hemp, apple, shellfish, small fruits, seaweed, floriculture, nurseries, and rangeland ecology.<\/p>\n

Summer EBT:  The bill continues funding the Summer EBT program at $35 million.  This program has provided much-needed nutrition for Oregon families during the summer months when schools are not in session.<\/p>\n

Food Corps: The bill provides an increase of $1 million for Food and Agriculture Service Learning.  This program helps improve education resources for healthy eating especially among children.<\/p>\n

Hemp: The bill provides $16.777 million to implement provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill allowing for the cultivation of commercial hemp, which can be used to make everything from cloth and rope to oil and soap. Hemp has already quickly become one of Oregon’s leading cash crops, and many feel has the potential to bring in more than $1 billion in sales to Oregon in the coming years with a fair and reasonable regulatory framework.<\/p>\n

Adem\u00e1s, el proyecto de ley ordena al USDA que proponga enmiendas a la regla final provisional de la agencia sobre el c\u00e1\u00f1amo para garantizar que cualquier regla final se base en la ciencia y garantice un marco regulatorio justo y razonable para los productores comerciales de c\u00e1\u00f1amo. El proyecto de ley tambi\u00e9n:<\/p>\n