By Ryan Hanrahan
Politico’s Samuel Benson reported that “the Agriculture Department has quietly extended the public comment period for its controversial reorganization plan to Sept. 30, doubling the length of time provided for input on an initiative that has drawn criticism from both Democrats and Republicans since it was unveiled last month.”
“USDA released the plan for public comment on July 24 for a period that was originally set to last 30 days. A department webpage that earlier this week listed the deadline as Aug. 31 now says it is Sept. 30,” Benson reported. “‘The additional days in the comment period are to ensure everyone who wants to submit feedback, can,’ USDA spokesperson Alec Varsamis said in a statement. ‘This aligns with our original intent to hear from our stakeholders.'”
“Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle criticized USDA over its rollout of the plan, which calls for relocating much of its Washington-area workforce to five regional hubs across the country,” Benson reported. “Senate Democrats — led by Agriculture Committee ranking member Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Adam Schiff of California — sent a letter earlier this week urging Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to extend the comment period to at least 60 days.”
The USDA says that “all stakeholders, including USDA employees, members of Congress, and agricultural and nutrition partners, are encouraged to provide feedback by emailing reorganization@usda.gov.”
Source : illinois.edu