Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

Senate Approves Ag Spending Bill

The Senate approved a $124.5 billion ag spending bill on Tuesday by a vote of 80 to 17. The House passed its version in July.

As Senators debated agriculture spending on Monday they broke with the President who wanted to eliminate the agriculture department's High Energy Cost Grant Program. This program provides money for electricity generation projects in places such as Indian reservations, rural cooperatives and, especially, Alaska. The Senate voted 55 to 41 to keep the program alive and help people in rural areas receive reasonably priced electricity. The $18 million program made it onto Obama's roster of 75 recommended cuts or eliminations of so-called discretionary programs funded by Congress each year, totaling $11.5 billion.