Pace of 2012 Farm Bill Intensifies

February 3, 2011Tim CanslerFarm Bill, Govt NewsAgriculture, Farm Bill, Lobbyist, Washington DC

Are the programs of the 2012 Farm Bill that impact your organization being moved forward right NOW? This week Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee kept up the intense pace of his Committee hearing schedule by bringing leading economists to testify on topics including the state of the U.S economy and new ideas for the U.S. tax system. Conrad and Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) are working on the Senate’s version of a Budget Resolution in anticipation and response to the Administration’s budget proposal due on Capitol Hill February 14. …

Biotech Congressional Hearing Showcases Need For Reform Pt2

January 25, 2011Tim CanslerGovt NewsAgriculture, biotech, Corporate, House, Lobbying, Lobbyist, reform, USDA, Washington DC

While incoming Chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, Oklahoma’s Frank Lucas, agreed with Vilsack’s tenor on producers being able to choose their individual cropping system, Lucas stated that the Plant Protection Act, which grants USDA authority to regulate biotech crops, is a pure science statute and that decisions should remain based on sound science. Moreover, Lucas pressed USDA on their recent consideration of the possible coexistence of herbicide-tolerant biotech alfalfa co-existing with non-biotech fields is “a political objective and is outside the scope of (USDA’s) legal authority.”…

First Major Action of 112th Congress

January 21, 2011Tim CanslerGovt NewsBudget, Congress, Corporate, House, Lobbyist, Obma, Washington DC

On the House floor Thursday, fourteen Democrats joined House republicans to adopt a measure, 253-175, that instructs four Committees; the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Ways and Means, to each report legislation to the House of Representatives proposing changes to the health care law within each committee’s jurisdiction. The legislation must…

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Biotech Congressional Hearing Showcases Need For Reform Pt1

January 21, 2011Tim CanslerGovt Newsbiotch, Corporate, House, Lobbying, Lobbyist, reform, USDA, Washington, Washington DC

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held its first hearing of the new 112th Congress on Thursday and continued its tradition of tackling difficult issues by addressing the complex issues plaguing biotechnology and USDA-APHIS’ role in regulating it.

Biotechnology in agriculture has been rapidly adopted by farmers throughout the world as the industry addresses how to feed a growing world population with limited resources. In fact the 2009 report, The Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops continues to show that global adoption of agricultural biotechnology continues to increase with a record 14 million farmers in 25 countries around the world planting biotech crops on 330 million acres last year, up from 13.3 million farmers and 308 million acres in 2008. The U.S. accounted for 158 million acres of the total, or 48% of the world’s biotech crop plantings.…

Congressman Rogers Chairman House Appropriations

December 8, 2010Tim CanslerGovt NewsAppropriations Committee, Congressman, Hal Rogers, Lobbyist, Washington DC

Cansler Consulting congratulates fellow Kentuckian Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-5th) on ascending to the Chairmanship of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations Committee has broad responsibility over the Federal budget. As Chairman, Congressman Rogers will lead in the writing of spending legislation for all departments and agencies in the federal government and significantly influence domestic…

The Farm Bill Pt. 3

December 7, 2010Tim CanslerAgriculture, Farm BillBudget, Corporate, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Washington

In Part 3 of our overview of the Farm Bill, we give our assessment of the impact of the bill…

There are some pundits already saying that nutrition programs will not be considered during reconciliation. Don’t count on it. The new reform-minded Republicans elected in the House will most likely reinforce the call for a vote to change the eligibility standards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (food stamps) program. Recall during the 2008 Farm Bill debate Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) offered a proposal that would not allow the indexing of benefits to inflation. Neugebauer will likely receive reinforcements on the House Agriculture Committee to be successful this time around. In addition, it helps Neugebauer’s position that the Congressional Research Service is estimating spending for SNAP “over the five-year period is significantly higher than originally projected in 2008 ($188.9 billion estimated in 2008, compared to the more current estimate of $314.9 billion), reflecting additional spending because of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), higher food costs, and increasing program participation rates due to the recession.”…

The Farm Bill Pt. 2

November 28, 2010Tim CanslerFarm BillCorporate, DC, Farm Bill, Lobbying, Lobbyist, Washington

Welcome to Part 2 of our 2012 Farm Bill overview…

Farm Bills have traditionally been tough to write, in many respects. Other things to consider that will be unique to writing the 2012 Farm Bill are:

Other forces will play in this Farm Bill. In an extraordinary move, the Brazilian cotton case resolved in the World Trade Organization in August 2009 maintains a caveat that authorizes the Brazilian government to retaliate against the U.S. by suspending U.S. intellectual property (IP) rights (patents & copyrights) if it believes the 2012 Farm Bill contains trade distorting policies, targeting mainly the commodity marketing loan and counter-cyclical payment programs. Watch for more non-traditional IP-intensive industries and their high-powered lobbying corps to enter the fray of the 2012 Farm Bill debate.
Already dimishing support. Support for farm programs has already begun to diminish as the Administration’s FY 2011 fiscal year budget proposed to reduce farm supports.…
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The Farm Bill Pt. 1

November 23, 2010Tim CanslerFarm Billargiculture, Consultants, Farm Bill, Lobbyist, Washington DC

Re-authorization of the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill is an important piece of legislation that impacts multiple constituencies. We have dedicated a multi-part series of articles to keep you informed and to provide some professional insights. The articles will entail some background on the Farm Bill, considerations unique to the Farm Bill and the impact of it.

Will the Farm Bill be re-authorized?

The Farm Bill will be reauthorized by its expiration date in September 2012, because……

Cansler Consulting Unveils New Web Presence

November 9, 2010Tim CanslerCansler NewsCorporate, DC, Lobbyist, Washington

Premier Washington lobbyists, Cansler Consulting unveils their new web site (CanslerConsulting.com). Designed and developed by veteran online marketing experts, Our Marketing Group (OurMarketingGroup.com), based out of Charlotte, NC, the site features automatic news updates via Cansler’s news blog and Twitter accounts. The site release coincides with the release and re-branding of their social media outlets,…