Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill and it passed by a vote of 218-208. Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson supports free trade and supported the legislation.     TPA, known as “fast track,” is not a trade deal. TPA simply sets up a process for Congress to consider trade deals; in this case, Congress expects to… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson supported final passage of the Fiscal Year 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill, which passed the House 216 -210 late last night.  The bill includes Simpson’s language increasing truck weights on Idaho Interstate Highways to 129,000 pounds. The increase, above the current allowance of 105,500 pounds, puts Idaho in… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today supported passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY16, which includes a provision delaying the listing of the greater sage-grouse as an endangered species. Simpson supported language included in NDAA that would prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the bird for ten years, giving adequate time for effective… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson supported passage of legislation to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) attempts to take control of state waters last night.  H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, would require the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the controversial proposed rule expanding the definition of “waters of the United… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, has led a successful effort to defeat an amendment that would have stripped a section of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill prohibiting any changes to federal jurisdiction under the Obama Administration’s “Waters of the United States" proposal. The proposed rule would expand the reach… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson has once again secured language in the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bill to allow trucks weighing up to 129,000 pounds on Idaho Interstates. The current weight limit in Idaho of 105,500 pounds blocks trucks from entering the Interstate system, instead, relegating them to certain state highways or outside of Idaho… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson cosponsored legislation to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw their rule changing the definition of “waters of the United States.”  H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, would pull back the flawed rule and ensure that any new rule reflects the input of stakeholders and… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson commends the recent report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggesting that fresh, white potatoes should not be excluded from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program.  Simpson has been raising this concern with the USDA for years and successfully included fresh, white potatoes in the WIC program in the fiscal year 2015… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson will once again be a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Dairy Farmer Caucus for the 114th Congress. The 80 member bipartisan caucus provides a forum for members and staff to collaborate on many important issues to the dairy industry. “Idaho dairy producers and their counterparts across the nation face unique challenges,” said Simpson. “It will be… Read more »

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson has signed on as an original cosponsor of H.R. 594, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act, which would support the existing partnership between states and the federal government by preventing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers from redefining “waters of the United States” under the Clean… Read more »