Hinson advocates for government funding plan that gives farmers ‘the support they need right now’

As Republican lawmakers and President-elect Donald Trump worked Thursday to draft a new plan to fund the government, Eastern Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson said she would support a version that looked out for farmers’ interests.

During a conference call with reporters Thursday morning, Hinson, a Republican from Marion, advocated for passing “a clean CR,” addressing the debt ceiling, providing disaster relief and extending the farm bill to “give our farmers most needed aid.”

“President Trump overwhelmingly won his election and the American people did vote for disruption and change, and I stand with him in this fight,” Hinson told reporters, saying the outgoing Congress “should be clearing the deck so that President Trump has a running start in January.”

The short-term funding bill sunk by Trump included several priorities and crucial wins for Iowa’s congressional delegation, biofuels industry, farmers and independent pharmacies. They included allowing for the year-round sale of gasoline blend with up to 15 percent ethanol nationwide, enacting a new one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill and changes to how pharmacy benefit managers — or PBMs, third party companies that function as intermediaries between insurance providers and drug manufacturers — operate.

“I advocated for that year-round E15 to be included in year-end legislation alongside the disaster relief, because I think it's about making sure our farmers and our producers have the support that they need right now — the certainty that they need right now after four years of hardship funded by the administration,” Hinson said. “Farmers are really struggling after, again, four years of high input prices and low commodity prices under the Biden administration that has not had a focus on trade, has not had a focus on actually lifting up American food production and American manufacturing, and giving us that leg up on the global stage. … My message to farmers is that we hear you, and we will continue to be your voice here in Washington, DC, we know you're really struggling, and my priorities will continue to be your priorities.”

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a former ophthalmologist who represents southeast Iowa, has been a staunch advocate of PBM reform to lowering drug costs and supporting independent pharmacies in Iowa.

“Congress must pass a standalone version of the bipartisan, bicameral health care provisions from the CR,” Miller-Meeks posted to X, formerly Twitter. “This critical legislation includes PBM reform to lower drug costs and protect independent pharmacies in Iowa, rural telehealth extensions, and mitigate harmful cuts in Medicare reimbursements to physicians.

Miller-Meeks, as well as every other member of Iowa’s all-Republican congressional delegation, has also advocated for year-round E15 sales.

“This permanent solution would lower costs for hardworking Americans at the pump, reduce emissions, and end fuel supply disruptions once and for all,” Miller-Meeks posted.

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