Late Friday evening, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR) released updated legislative text for the Farm Bill, and said he plans to hold the committee’s markup on Thursday, Aug. 6, at 9:30 a.m. ET.
State governments entered their 2027 fiscal years facing an increasingly difficult fiscal landscape. Legislatures across the country sought to address rising costs of housing, food, child care, utilities, and health care while managing slowing revenue growth, structural budget gaps, and declining fiscal flexibility. Although many states entered the budget cycle with stronger reserve balances than before the pandemic, those reserves are shrinking, ending balances have declined for three consecutive years, and policymakers are increasingly relying on one-time solutions to balance budgets rather than sustainable revenue growth.
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new public charge rule that is likely to increase fear and uncertainty among immigrant and mixed-status families, including families already struggling to afford food.