Moolenaar Supports Michigan Farmers with Work on Appropriations Committee

Today, the House Appropriations Committee passed legislation funding the United States Department of Agriculture for the 2019 federal budget year.

The legislation includes funding for important Michigan priorities including:

• $620 million in loans and grants for expanding rural broadband access.
• $998 million dollars the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service which controls and eradicates plant and animal diseases.
• $1 billion for food safety and inspection programs at 6,400 facilities across the country.
• More than $2 billion for infrastructure, focused on rural water and waste program loans.
• $3.1 billion for agriculture research that helps stop crop diseases including funding for the sugar beet and bean research facility at Michigan State University.
• $6.9 billion in loans for rural electric service and telephone lines.

Congressman John Moolenaar is a member of the Appropriations Committee and he made the following statement on today's legislation:

"This funding supports the men and women in Michigan agriculture who put food on tables here at home and around the world. It supports important research at Michigan State and it will help address some of the most important concerns Michiganders have, including improving rural water infrastructure and broadband Internet access. I will work with my colleagues to help pass this important legislation when the House votes on it."