September 27 2024

1 Developers Ask For Narrower Route for Grain Belt Express Transmission Corridor
2 Farm Bill Prioritized by House Democrats for Lame-Duck Session
3 Bill Proposes Phasing Out Feedlots
4 DNC Invests $50k to Help Kansas Democrats Break GOP Supermajority
5 Topeka Launches Program Offering Free Computers to Eligible Residents

1 Developers Ask For Narrower Route for Grain Belt Express Transmission Corridor

Developers of the Grain Belt Express transmission line have asked the federal government to narrow a 780-mile route energy officials proposed as a transmission corridor of “national interest.” The Department of Energy is working to designate “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors” in parts of the country where officials have found consumers are harmed by a lack of electric transmission and where additional lines would boost reliability and cut costs.  One of those corridors runs through Kansas, Missouri and Illinois before ending at the Indiana border, encompassing the route of the Grain Belt Express high-voltage transmission line being built by Invenergy, a Chicago-based clean energy developer.  The corridor proposed by the Department of Energy is five miles wide, but Invenergy has called on federal officials to reduce it to 0.5 miles, arguing in a blog post on the Grain Belt Express website that the narrower route “will balance the needs of states to access additional power while also addressing the concerns and uncertainty stakeholders along the path of the project are expressing.”

Article Source: KS Reflector

2 Farm Bill Prioritized by House Democrats for Lame-Duck Session

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries put the farm bill third on his short list of must-pass bills for the post-election session of Congress on Wednesday, behind averting a government shutdown and assuring military preparedness. The lame-duck session is the last chance to enact a new farm bill before lawmakers would have to start over

Article Source: The Fern

3 Bill Proposes Phasing Out Feedlots

The Inflation Reduction Act provided close to $20 billion for climate-smart agriculture, though that funding has been swept up in partisan politics over how the money should be spent and what types of environmentally-friendly practices it should support. In the midst of a heated farm bill debate, Republicans have sought to remove guardrails on IRA funding that ensures the money is used for climate-smart agriculture. Democrats are fighting to maintain these restrictions in the farm bill. Congressional Democrats this week unveiled a bill that would pay farmers who raise livestock for large industrial operations to transition toward more climate-friendly practices. The bill aims to use funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and provide farmers with grants to transition Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations into specialty crop production or pasture-based livestock operations. Farmers participating in this program would need to permanently cease the operation of the CAFO within 180 days. the proposal comes as House Republicans look to move IRA funds earmarked for climate-smart agriculture to pay for other priorities in the farm bill.   

Ed note: see yesterdays story #2 about assuming the feedlot workers in SW KS will be Democrats

Article Source: Agriculture Dive

4 DNC Invests $50k to Help Kansas Democrats Break GOP Supermajority

The Democratic National Committee is making a five-figure investment in Kansas Democrats to help fund efforts to break the Republican supermajorities in the Legislature. The DNC announced the $50,000 in funding to the Kansas Democratic Party on Friday. The announcement said the money "will go toward building out the coordinated campaign’s paid canvassing efforts with the goal of breaking the supermajority in the Kansas legislature."

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

5 Topeka Launches Program Offering Free Computers to Eligible Residents

Select Topeka residents could get a free computer. As part of the Topeka digital equity program TSC — Get Digital, the city will be giving out free computers to qualifying residents. “As we are living longer, our world is becoming increasingly digital," community engagement director and interim DEI officer Monique Glaudé said. "Information and communication can enable healthy and active aging by facilitating access to information, health and healthcare, socioeconomic participation and other factors that promote full engagement and participation as we age.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

Sources

1. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/09/27/transmission-line-developer-asks-for-narrower-corridor-through-kansas-nearby-states/

2. https://thefern.org/ag_insider/farm-bill-is-on-the-lame-duck-agenda-of-house-democrats/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202024-09-26%20Agriculture%20Dive%20%5Bissue:66257%5D&utm_term=Agriculture%20Dive

3. https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/factory-farming-climate-bill-congress-democrats/728304/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202024-09-27%20Agriculture%20Dive%20%5Bissue:66313%5D&utm_term=Agriculture%20Dive

4. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/27/dnc-invests-in-kansas-democrats-to-break-republican-supermajority/75398155007/

5. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2024/09/26/topeka-area-residents-can-apply-for-free-computer-if-they-qualify/75367155007/