7/11/2012

In a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson, Glenn English expressed NRECA's support for the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act and thanked the Chairman and Ranking Member for their leadership on the legislation. The bill includes critical advancements to programs vital to rural America and electric cooperatives, including allowing the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to make loans for baseload generation, allowing electric cooperatives to provide low-interest loans through RUS to their consumer-owners for energy efficiency improvements, and adding transparency to the RUS broadband loan program. The bill also includes language to update a study of rail transportation in rural America and to reduce the regulatory burden on electric cooperative's use of pesticides.

NRECA urges the House Agriculture Committee to pass the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act and looks forward to working with the Committee and Members of the House on the advancement of rural communities through the reauthorization of the Farm Bill.