Congress Passes Last-Minute Continuing Resolution through December

 
Sep 30, 2016
LA parishes declared disaster areas
after recent flooding
2016_Louisiana_floods_map_of_parishes_declared_federal_disaster_areas
WASHINGTON, DC – This week both chambers of Congress worked out a deal and passed a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through December 9 and avoid a government shutdown on October 1.  President Obama supported the continuing resolution negotiated by Congress and signed it into law.

The legislation took several attempts for a bipartisan agreement to be reached and was the last remaining piece of business that Congress needed to address before returning to their homes for recess until November 14, following the General Election.  The lame duck session in November and December will require lawmakers to finalize additional legislative packages including a long-term funding bill for FY 2017 and the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, among others.

Ben Mosely, USA Rice vice president of government relations, reacted positively to the passage of the continuing resolution, saying “There’s more to this legislation than just short-term funding of the federal government.  There’s an additional $500 million set aside for disaster aid following a series of extreme weather events and flooding throughout the country.”

While the amount of money divvied out to each of the states affected by natural disasters has not yet been made public, Mosely said, “Louisiana is certain to receive a fair portion of those funds given the sheer volume of damage to their farms, businesses, and homes just last month.  Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture, Mike Strain, is working to secure a portion of the Louisiana funding to directly aid farmers experiencing non-insured losses to their operations.”

Mosely added, “USA Rice is continuing to work with Congress, the Administration, and Louisiana officials to press for additional disaster aid specifically for Louisiana’s agriculture sector and we’re treating these initial funds as a down payment until a larger appropriations measure is considered during the lame duck.”


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