It’s official!! At this writing, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy has now notified President-Elect Biden that she is making available to him the resources available under the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, including funding, office space, access to agency officials, and so on, so that the transition to a new administration can proceed in earnest. In […]
Transition Update: “Ascertainment” Read More »
At this writing, the administrator of the General Services Administration still has not issued the “ascertainment” finding needed to trigger the resources available to incoming President-Elect Joe Biden and his team under the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. As a result, formal Transition activities – initial contacts between Biden-Harris agency review teams and career staff,
Transition Update: Moving Forward Read More »
As anticipated in our most recent Transition “Next Steps” post from Monday, the Biden-Harris Transition team on Tuesday this week announced its Agency Review teams. These are the groups assigned to interact with each Federal agency, take inventory of pending issues, such personnel and agency management, budget, and policy, and report back an assessment that
Transition Update: Biden announces agency Review Teams Read More »
The decision desks have spoken and awarded Democrat Joe Biden enough states to claim 270 Electoral College votes and the right to become the next President of the United States. The remaining arguments will drone on, the lawsuits, recounts, and the rest. But regardless, for now, finally, this means we are officially off to the
The Biden-Harris Transition: What’s Next Read More »
Late last week, in the final days of a presidential election, President Donald Trump issued an innocuous-sounding Executive Order (EO) that immediately raised eyebrows. While described as a step to increase accountability for top policymakers, many experts see it as a threat to long standing Civil Service principles. The EO, unless overturned, could put at
A Midnight Attack on Federal Employees? Read More »
With fewer than three weeks till Election Day, neither campaign wants to take its eye off the ball. All focus is on the effort to win 270 electoral votes and, with it, the presidency, be it for Democratic Nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden or for the incumbent, President Donald J. Trump. So far,
Transition Update 2020 Read More »
It is almost easy to forget, in this strange, tumultuous spring of 2020, that we still have a national presidential election, perhaps one of the most important in our lifetimes, just around the corner, five months from now. As a cascade of crises dominates national attention — the covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, nationwide
The 2020 Presidential Transition Has Already Begun, Quietly Read More »
Two years ago, a Kentucky farmer won an unusual $640,000 arbitration award against his Federal crop insurance AIP (approved insurance provider). During the arbitration, the farmer presented evidence to prove that the AIP had mishandled his policy, leaving the farm unprotected for two major crop losses. In one case, the AIP’s agent had placed the
Crop Insurance Arbitration: Navigating the Landmines Read More »
It’s no secret that weeks of heavy rain and snow melt have wreaked havoc with farm operations across the Midwest this spring. Sixty tornadoes hit the lower plains last weekend alone, and rivers in some areas are cresting at levels not seen since the catastrophic floods of 1993. April and May are prime planting months
FARMERS: Yes, heavy spring rains can affect your FCIC crop insurance coverage. Read More »
Jimmy Carter (above) and his Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti (right), authors of the modern government shutdown. In all the drama and commotion over the government shutdown, now in its third week, with 800,000 federal employees going without paychecks and services disappearing by the day, all prompted by President Trump’s insistence on funding his proposed Mexican
Government shutdowns – Who dreamed up this crazy idea? Read More »
Debate over the 2018 Farm Bill, likely to start in earnest this week with House consideration of H.R. 2, may focus sharp attention on the question of whether taxpayer costs for Federal Crop Insurance are reasonable and supportable. At least five amendments filed for floor consideration are intended to limit these costs in different ways.
Federal Crop Insurance AIPs: Some Misconceptions about Underwriting Gains Read More »
Of all the issues surrounding a new Farm Bill in 2018, perhaps none unifies American agricultural producers more than Federal Crop Insurance, provided by USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). Be it North or South, big or small, row crops or specialty, organic or conventional, the FCIC crop insurance program is today viewed almost universally
Top Priority for the 2018 Farm Bill: Protect Federal Crop Insurance Read More »
The great battle for the 2014 Farm Bill is thankfully over, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Congress from continuing to tinker with Federal Crop Insurance. Most recently, in late May, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees each voted to report their versions of bills to fund USDA in fiscal 2015, and each took the
Crop Insurance Appropriations – A Clue for the next SRA? Read More »
The severe drought that had plagued the American Southwest over the past three years – the worst in modern memory – has taken a toll on many local businesses, taxpayers, and homeowners, but among its worst casualties have been American farm producers. USDA’s Federal crop insurance program, run by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC),
This week, USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) announced its projected prices for all FCIC crop insurance policies with March 15 sales deadlines for the 2014 crop year, including: Corn: $4.62 per bushel; Cotton: $0.78 per pound; Soybeans: $11.36 per bushel; and Wheat: $6.51 Projected prices were also announced for barley, canola, grain sorghum, popcorn,
Federal Crop Insurance Sets Prices for Corn, Wheat, Cotton, and Soybeans Read More »
The 2014 Farm Bill creates a new environment for American agriculture far more friendly to producers who are experienced and comfortable using USDA’s Federal crop insurance program under the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). Not only did Congress repeal many of the older crop programs administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, including Direct Payments, Countercyclical
The 2014 Farm Bill: The Challenge for Farm Producers Read More »
Federal crop insurance provided by USDA’s Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and participating private companies (Approved Insurance Providers or AIPs) is often described as a program based on “self-certification.” Farmers annually report their own acreage, ownership, yield histories, and other key information, mostly on an honor system. FCIC and AIPs require support documents, and can
OFW Law recently prevailed in Arbitration on behalf of a farm producer against a major insurance provider under USDA’s Federal crop insurance program. The case hinged on whether a foreign individual with an ownership interest several layers removed from the insured held a “substantial beneficial interest” (“SBI”) as defined in USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA)
Not all “wetlands” are equal. And while protecting these previous environmental legacies is a high priority for USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), its power to penalize farmers for inadvertent wetland conversions must be tempered by reason and science. The National Appeals Division (NAD) recently underscored this message in a Hearing Officer Determination (FSA chose not
When OFW Law’s Ken Ackerman is not providing legal and government affairs representation to the agriculture industry, with a special focus on crop insurance and risk management, he is a prolific nonfiction history writer. Ken’s published books include critically acclaimed biographies of New York’s Boss Tweed, former-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and President James A.
Anyone want to write a nonfiction book? Read More »
Farm producer and USDA program customers increasingly are turning to USDA’s National Appeals Division (NAD) as the best option when they find themselves facing an adverse decision from a USDA agency. NAD offers a far quicker, more user-friendly, and more inexpensive way to get an objective “second opinion” compared with suing the agency in Federal
USDA’s National Appeals Division: A Checklist for Farmers Read More »
Reviewed by Kenneth D. Ackerman, as published by the Washington Independent Review of Books History and public opinion rarely turn a kind face toward children of famous people. We usually just love to knock them down — a combination of jealousy, envy and vanity, the presumption that each of us could have done better given the same
First Son: The Biography of Richard M. Daley Read More »
Few Washington government programs escape un-cut in the new 2014 budget unveiled today by President Obama’s administration, and Federal crop insurance is no exception. 2012 saw Federal crop insurance emerge as the premier Federal backstop for American farm producers against natural disaster, paying over $16 billion in indemnities as farmers virtually nationwide faced historic drought
New Obama Budget Includes Cuts for Federal Crop Insurance Read More »
If anyone doubted the huge role that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Federal crop insurance program is playing this year in protecting rural America from economic disaster following last summer’s historic drought, a new study from two economists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln should settle the issue. USDA Federal crop insurance has paid over
2012 Federal Crop Insurance Saved 20,900 Local Jobs in Four States Read More »
Don’t miss our very own Ken Ackerman at the 2013 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum tomorrow, February 21, moderating the panel discussion on Managing Financial Risk in Agriculture. Appearing with Ken will be: Juan Garcia, Administrator, Farm Service Agency, USDA Joel Nelsen, President, California Citrus Mutual, Exeter, California Denny Everson, President of Agriculture, Branch Administrator, First Dakota
USDA Ag Outlook Forum Tomorrow Read More »
USDA’s National Appeals Division Upholds Farm Service Agency’s “Finality Rule” By Kenneth D. Ackerman Recently, we at OFW Law had the chance to help two Connecticut farmers win rulings from USDA’s National Appeals Division forcing the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to respect their rights under the Finality Rule, an important protection for farmers who participate in USDA programs. Many farmers operate
A Victory for Farmers Read More »
By Kenneth D. Ackerman The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Appeals Division (NAD) is a great forum for farmers who have disputes with USDA agencies, and want to address them quickly and inexpensively. I often advise farmers that NAD is the best option to obtain a fair, neutral ruling on their situation from a hearing officer
RMA Should Change the Rules on Its Ineligible List Read More »
By Kenneth D. Ackerman, as published on The Huffington Post So, President Obama, you need a new Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton, but you don’t like any of the choices sitting on your desk? You think Susan Rice deserves it and would do a great job, but she comes with too much controversy? You feel
An Idea for Barack Obama: Why Not Pick Sen. Dick Lugar as Secretary of State? Read More »
By Kenneth D. Ackerman, as published in Bloomberg News. The “fiscal cliff,” a combination of tax increases and severe spending cuts scheduled to kick in next year, is a product of multiple deceptions. Both the expiration date on the Bush-era tax cuts and the trillion-dollar “sequesters” that were enacted as part of last year’s debt- ceiling
History Suggests Grand Bargain to Avert Fiscal Cliff Read More »
