The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S2065-S2067 on April 20.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS
The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:
POM-6. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Maine urging the Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service to include certain nonfood essentials in the supplemental nutrition assistance program; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Senate Paper 312
Whereas, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is a federally governed and funded program under the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service with shared state administration; and
Whereas, SNAP currently provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of qualifying recipients so they can purchase healthy food but fails to account for nonfood essentials, including toilet paper, soap, deodorant, toothpaste and menstrual products; and
Whereas, toilet paper, soap, deodorant, toothpaste and menstrual products are essential products needed for human dignity and health; and
Whereas, if a person struggles with access to food, that person likely also struggles with access to nonfood essentials; and
Whereas, a person who does not have access to nonfood essentials, especially menstrual products and toilet paper, may be forced to use inappropriate and unsafe alternatives, thereby putting that person's health and the health of the person's reproductive system at risk; and
Whereas, a person without access to nonfood essentials cannot equitably participate in work, the search for employment or many other activities due to the risk of embarrassment such as from odors or bleeding through clothing; and
Whereas, a person who lives in an abusive situation has an increased likelihood of having difficulty accessing menstrual products and other nonfood essentials; and
Whereas, it is a matter of human justice and dignity for recipients of SNAP benefits to be granted the authority to determine what essentials they most need; and
Whereas, the residents of this State who qualify for SNAP benefits have essential needs beyond food and should therefore be granted the dignity to select how to expend their SNAP benefits based upon their essential needs; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service enter into rulemaking to amend the stated goal of SNAP to ``raising the level of nutrition and essential-need stability among low-income households and maintaining adequate levels of nutrition and nonfood-essentials supplies by increasing the food and nonfood-essentials purchasing power of low-income families''; and be it further
Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service enter into rulemaking to expand the scope of SNAP benefits to include the following nonfood essentials for recipient purchase: toilet paper, soap, deodorant, toothpaste and menstrual products, including but not limited to tampons, pads, liners and reusable cups, underwear and shields; and be it further
Resolved, That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, for consideration in the federal budgeting process; to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service; to the Nutrition Service Administrator, United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service; to the Food and Nutrition Service Associate Administrator of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service; to the Northeast Regional Office of the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service; to the President of the United States Senate; to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States; to each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation; and to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
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POM-7. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Maine urging the United States Congress and the President of the United States to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision that penalizes Maine state retirees; to the Committee on Finance.
Senate Paper 332
Whereas, under current federal law, individuals who receive a Social Security benefit and a public retirement benefit derived from employment not covered under Social Security are subject to a reduction in the Social Security benefits; and
Whereas, these laws, contained in the federal Social Security Act, 42 United States Code, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits, and known as the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, greatly affect public employees, particularly women; and
Whereas, the Windfall Elimination Provision reduces by a formula the Social Security benefit of a person who is also receiving a pension from a public employer that does not participate in Social Security; and
Whereas, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision are particularly burdensome on the finances of low-income and moderate-income public service workers, such as school teachers, clerical workers and school cafeteria employees, whose wages are low to start; and
Whereas, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision both unfairly reduce benefits for those public employees and their spouses whose careers cross the line between the private and public sectors; and
Whereas, since many lower-paying public service jobs are held by women, both the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision have a disproportionately adverse effect on women; and
Whereas, in some cases, additional support in the form of income, housing, heating and prescription drug and other safety net assistance from state and local governments is needed to make up for the reductions imposed at the federal level; and
Whereas, other participants in Social Security do not have their benefits reduced in this manner; and
Whereas, to participate or not to participate in Social Security in public sector employment is a decision of employers, even though both the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision directly punish employees and their spouses; and
Whereas, although the Government Pension Offset was enacted in 1977 and the Windfall Elimination Provision was enacted in 1983, many of the benefits in dispute were paid into Social Security prior to that time; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States work together to support reform proposals that include the following protections for low-income and moderate-income government retirees:
1. Protections permitting retention of a combined public pension and Social Security benefit with no applied reductions;
2. Protections permanently ensuring that level of benefit by indexing it to inflation; and
3. Protections ensuring that no current recipient's benefit is reduced by the reform legislation; and be it further
Resolved, That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States; the President of the United States Senate; the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; and each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.
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POM-8. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Maine urging the United States Congress and the President of the United States to establish a national infrastructure bank; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Senate Paper 297
Whereas, the American Society of Civil Engineers states in its 2017 Report Card that the United States received a grade of D+ regarding the current state of infrastructure and that more than $4.5 trillion would be needed to restore the nation's infrastructure to a state of good repair, over $2 trillion in new infrastructure projects is currently not funded by the Federal Government and the remainder of infrastructure projects is inadequately funded; and
Whereas, the Maine Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the State a grade of C- in 2020, including dams, D+; hazardous waste, D+; roads, D; transit, D+; and wastewater, D+; and
Whereas, the state highway system projects a drastic funding shortfall due to the pandemic related to coronavirus disease 2019 and preexisting financial deficits; drivers in the State spend over $1 billion per year in vehicle operating costs, congestion and crashes, and the Stale has the highest highway fatality rate in New England; and the State has 1,073 dams with an average age of over 100 years, and a minimum of $269 million is needed to maintain dam infrastructure; and
Whereas, a new National Infrastructure Bank could directly help finance all of these projects, and the United States Congress introduced H.R. 6422, ``National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2020,'' which would create a $4 trillion bank that could help finance the infrastructure needs and hire millions who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, putting them into higher-paying infrastructure and related jobs; and
Whereas, the new National Infrastructure Bank is modeled on previous successful, similar institutions that built much of the nation's infrastructure, and under United States Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt similar institutions financed the infrastructure projects that made us the envy of the world and helped bring us out of the Great Depression and win World War II; and
Whereas, the new National Infrastructure Bank will be capitalized by using secure, existing United States Treasury debt, such as treasury bills typically held in large quantities by major investment institutions, requiring no new federal spending and no new taxes, and will be authorized to spend $4 trillion in urgently needed infrastructure projects; and
Whereas, the new National Infrastructure Bank will create approximately 25 million new jobs, ensure the payment of fair wages, mandate project labor agreements, ensure ``buy American'' policies, direct spending into disadvantaged business enterprises and ensure minority hiring opportunities, and it is expected to increase the size of the economy by 4% to 5% each year; and
Whereas, the new National Infrastructure Bank is supported by many organizations: Seventeen state legislatures have introduced or passed resolutions, city and county councils have introduced or passed resolutions and the National Congress of Black Women, National Association of Counties, the United States High Speed Rail Association, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the American Sustainable Business Council, the National Association of Minority Contractors, the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association and many other government, labor and civic bodies have endorsed the National Infrastructure Bank legislation; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the Congress of the United States pass, and the President of the United States sign, H.R. 6422 to create a National Infrastructure Bank to finance urgently needed infrastructure projects; and he it further
Resolved, That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.
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POM-9. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the State of Michigan urging the United States Congress to change the formula for distributing coronavirus emergency relief funds for schools to allow states to distribute funds on a more equitable basis; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Senate Resolution No. 24
Whereas, The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on schools, students, and teachers across the country. Schools have needed to make significant investments to first ensure all students had equal access to remote learning and then to ensure schools could provide a safe learning environment for students returning to in-person learning; and
Whereas, Congress has approved emergency relief funding to assist schools in addressing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the recent Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021, the state of Michigan will receive more than $1.65 billion. The state must distribute at least $1.49 billion of these funds to local schools, while Congress continues to debate providing even more emergency funding for schools; and
Whereas, The current federal formula for distributing emergency relief funding has led to large discrepancies in how much schools receive per pupil. The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II Fund), and the earlier ESSER I funding, must be allocated to schools based on the formula under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Under this complicated formula based on the number of disadvantaged and low-income students and other factors, it is estimated that some school districts in Michigan could receive as little $51 per pupil while other districts could receive more than $16,481 per pupil in addition to their foundation allowance; and
Whereas, The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted school systems across the state with unexpected and impossible to plan for expenses. All school systems have needed to invest in technology and equipment to ensure Michigan's children could continue to learn remotely and allow schools to provide a safe environment for students and teachers in the classroom. Schools with more disadvantaged and low-income students have had additional challenges in creating remote and safe in-person learning environments. However, the Title I, Part A formula is an imperfect and inadequate solution that has led to an absurd inequity in the distribution of emergency relief funds; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, That we memorialize the Congress of the United States to change the formula for distributing coronavirus emergency relief funds for schools to allow states to distribute funds on a more equitable basis; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the Michigan congressional delegation.
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POM-10. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of North Dakota clarifying the 1975 ratification by the 44th Legislative Assembly of the proposed 1972 Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States only was valid through March 22, 1979; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4010
Whereas, the 92nd Congress of the United States of America, during its second session, with the constitutionally required vote of two-thirds of both houses, on March 22, 1972, gave final approval to House Joint Resolution No. 208, commonly referred to as the Equal Rights Amendment, to propose the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, in offering the proposed federal constitutional amendment to America's state lawmakers, the 92nd Congress chose a deadline of 7 years, or until March 22, 1979, for the constitutionally mandated ratification of the amendment by three-fourths of the country's state legislatures; and
Whereas, in Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4007, the regular session of the 44th Legislative Assembly in 1975, responded by ratifying the proposed 1972 Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of North Dakota, the House of Representatives Concurring Therein:
That the 67th Legislative Assembly deems that the vitality of Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4007 of the 44th Legislative Assembly by which North Dakota lawmakers ratified the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment, officially lapsed at 11:59 p.m. on March 22, 1979; and be if further
Resolved, That, after March 22, 1979, the Legislative Assembly, while in agreement women and men should enjoy equal rights in the eyes of the law, should not be counted by Congress, the Archivist of the United States, lawmakers in any other state, any court of law, or any other person, as still having on record a live ratification of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as was offered by House Joint Resolution No. 208 of the 92nd Congress on March 22, 1972; and be it further
Resolved, That the 67th Legislative Assembly respectfully requests the full and complete verbatim text of this resolution be duly published in the United States Senate's portion of the Congressional Record, as an official memorial to the United States Senate, and that this resolution be referred to the committee of the United States Senate with appropriate jurisdiction over its subject matter; and be it further
Resolved, That the 67th Legislative Assembly respectfully requests the substance of this resolution be duly entered in the United States House of Representatives' portion of the Congressional Record, as an official memorial to the United States House of Representatives, and that this resolution be referred to the committee of the United States House of Representatives with appropriate jurisdiction over its subject matter; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of State forward copies of this resolution to the Vice President of the United States, the secretary and parliamentarian of the United States Senate; the Speaker, clerk, and parliamentarian of the United States House of Representatives; each member of the North Dakota Congressional Delegation; and the Archivist of the United States at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
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POM-11. A concurrent resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio urging the federal government to increase the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program's security against fraudulent actors, both internationally and domestically; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Senate Resolution 21
Whereas, The rate of unemployment fraud is skyrocketing in Ohio and around the country, and we can no longer afford to freely hand out taxpayer dollars without some kind of security measures against fraud; and
Whereas, The unemployment compensation system is a federal-state partnership; and
Whereas, Part of the partnership between the federal government and the State of Ohio is that Ohio will ensure prompt payment of both state unemployment benefits and benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program; and
Whereas, While we are in an unprecedented pandemic, and there is great need for expediency when processing unemployment claims, there must be some form of security check to prevent claims from being made in our constituents' names without their knowledge or consent; and
Whereas, The federal attitude of ``pay and chase,'' meaning the overemphasis on expediting benefit payments without traditional safeguards, must be re-evaluated and changed; and
Whereas, Across the country, regardless of whether these fraudulent claims are through states' traditional unemployment systems or the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, taxpayer dollars are being siphoned off by domestic criminals and international thieves; and
Whereas, This fraud deprives our state and federal governments of necessary resources during a pandemic and costs our constituents money; and
Whereas, This fraud slows down the process by which unemployment benefits are distributed to those who are truly in need within our communities; and
Whereas, Instituting a system that stamps out fraud and theft will clear the way for resources to flow where they are needed more quickly and efficiently; and
Whereas, Ohioans who receive 1099-G tax forms for unemployment benefits that they did not receive must navigate a cumbersome, frustrating, and unresponsive system to clear the fraud status from their account; now therefore be it
Resolved, That we, the members of the 134th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, urge the federal government to reinstitute the traditional safeguards as well as new identification verification to ensure that the individuals requesting and receiving benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program are those who truly need it, and not fraudulent actors; and be it further
Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the United States Senate, each member of the Ohio Congressional delegation, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, and the news media of Ohio.
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