Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT ) along with 30 other members of Congress, today urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to exercise its legal authority to investigate and take action against the manufacturers of products they falsely claim to be milk. Dairy farmers continue to be buffeted by extreme financial hardships. Since 2014, milk prices have plunged 40 percent. During that same time, there has been a surge in the mislabeling of imitation ...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined 94 colleagues in urging House leadership to secure full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Simpson and others urged the federal government to fulfill its responsibility to counties with tax-exempt federal land by fully funding both programs. “Last year’s Omnibus spending bill was critical in preserving funding for PILT at levels that keep up with the needs of commu...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today supported the House Interior and Environment Appropriations bill for FY17 during the House Appropriations Committee consideration. Included in the legislation are policies important to western states and critical funding for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), a vital program in the west that ensures communities are adequately compensated for the lack of tax revenue due to the presence of federal land. “Every county in Idaho depends on the federal government mee...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined a bipartisan group of Members of Congress in sending a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) top official expressing extreme concerns with the use of federal funding for advocacy and lobbying efforts. EPA funds were recently linked to an advocacy project in Washington State. “As an Idahoan I fully expect to have differences with the EPA regarding policy,” said Simpson. “But one thing that we should always agree on is the law and these advocac...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined 253 Members of Congress in passing S.J.Res. 22, a resolution intended to stop the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the Obama Administration’s controversial Clean Water Rule. The rule, which was implemented in June 2015 in spite of widespread opposition among the public and in Congress, broadly expands the agencies’ jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. S.J.Res. 22 would use the Congressional Review Act ...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today applauded the passage of H.R. 2029, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations bill that included many important provisions for Idaho and Western States. The House passed H.R. 2029 by a vote of 316-113, and it will be considered by the U.S. Senate today. Links to the bill text and reports can be found here: https://rules.house.gov/bill/114/hr-2029-sa. “I applaud Chairman Rogers and Speaker Ryan for their hard work in assembli...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson applauded the release of H.R. 2029, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations bill that included many important provisions for Idaho and Western States. “I applaud Chairman Rogers and Speaker Ryan for their hard work in assembling this comprehensive and responsible package that will keep the government open through the rest of this fiscal year,” said Simpson. “This bill contains many critical wins for Idaho and Western States. It ...
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The House Appropriations Committee released FY2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill last night. This legislation includes funding for the 12 annual Appropriations bills through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2016. Many provisions that are critical to Idaho are included in the legislation. Chairman Simpson secured increased funding for operations and research at the INL, funding for the A-10 at Gowen Field, and full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. Simpson’s language...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today supported the conference report to reauthorize highway programs for five years, providing long-term certainty to state and local governments to carry out much needed maintenance and repair projects for our roads, bridges, and transit systems. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act passed the House by a vote of 359-65. “Funding for highways is some of the most important money appropriated on the federal level,” said Simpson. “Idaho’s economy de...
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Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson has cosponsored a resolution intended to stop the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the Obama Administration’s controversial Clean Water Rule. In spite of widespread opposition in Congress and among the public, in June the Administration implemented a new rule broadly expanding its jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. H.J.Res. 59 would use the Congressional Review Act to prevent the rule from being enacted and...
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