Economy
Congress passed the last COVID-19 relief bill 174 days ago. Hundreds of thousands of Americans – schools, families, and small businesses – are still struggling from this virus. Both the House and the Senate have proposed vastly different proposals to help these hurting Americans. The House passed a bill with a $3T price tag – that's too much spending so I voted no. The Senate has offered several packages with a lower price tag, but Senate Democrats have offered no support. We need to find common ground.
WASHINGTON - Today, Tuesday, September 15, 2020, the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus – 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans -- unveiled its "March To Common Ground" framework to help break the gridlock on the latest COVID-19 relief package and encourage negotiators to get back to the table.
The 50-member bipartisan Caucus, developed and came together in support of the framework after extensive listening to constituents and outreach to stakeholders over the past six weeks.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) applauded the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) decision to award a $22 million Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant to reconstruct 30 miles of Highway 46 between US-81 and I-29 near Beresford and Irene, a critical route for agriculture producers in southeast South Dakota and for those driving between Yankton and Sioux Falls.
The last several months continue to serve as a reminder of services critical to all Americans. Two of those services have been on the forefront of my mind recently: The United States Postal Service and local newspapers.
Each are important for different reasons – the USPS plays a vital role in delivering medications and other essential goods, and our local newspapers work day in and day out to keep South Dakotans informed of what's happening both locally and nationally.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) introduced the Preserving Readership and Information of Newspapers for Tomorrow (PRINT) Act, which would include the cost of print production of local print media in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Currently, local media is eligible for the PPP, but printing costs are not forgivable under the program guidelines.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), members of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, respectively, today issued the following statements after the U.S.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act – this bill authorized a critical pandemic program for American families – the Farmers to Families Food Box. Since March, more than 62 million families across the country have received food boxes.
JBS, the Brazilian meat company, is planning to convert a Colorado lamb processing company to beef, leaving the sheep industry without a processing plant for 350,000 lambs in the western states, according to local media reports.
JBS USA Holdings Inc. was expected to close on its purchase of the Mountain States Rosen lamb processing facility in Greeley, Colo., on Friday, but senators and house members from five western states have asked the Justice Department to intervene in the purchase.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and U.S. Reps.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced the Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT) Act. This legislation will allow state inspected meat to be sold across state lines through e-commerce, allowing small producers and processors more options to directly market to consumers.