Lawmakers are using a compromise highway bill to reverse crop insurance cuts that were part of the two-year budget agreement. The conference agreement of the House and Senate bills is expected to pass through Congress by Friday as lawmakers want to prevent programs from expiring, according to Agri-Pulse. House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway of Texas commended House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Tuesday, for living up to their promise to fix the cuts. The $3 billion worth of cuts will be replaced by a Federal Reserve dividend cut for the banking industry. Conaway had maintained that the cuts would not come from any agriculture programs, a condition of his agreement with the House leadership.
If the highway funding bill is passed, it would be the first multiyear transportation funding bill to last longer than two years since 2005. The bill would provide $305 billion of funding for highways, bridges and transit over five years.