Business Blog

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, will convene a meeting of the full Committee for purposes of considering and marking up the 2013 Farm Bill on Tuesday, May 14 at 10 a.m. in the Committee’s hearing room, 328-A of the Russell Senate Office Building. ***Due to limited [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday completed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that cuts farm subsidies and land conservation spending by about $2 billion a year but largely protects sugar growers and some 46 million food stamp beneficiaries. The 64-35 vote for passage defied political odds. Many inside and outside of Congress had predicted [...]

Retailers, gas stations, restaurateurs and other businesses that regularly receive payment through customer debit cards won the day in the U.S. Senate Wednesday, with opponents of caps on debit card swipe fees falling short of votes needed to delay implementation of the caps for two years. The Senate vote lets the Federal Reserve limit to [...]

By Ted Carter The American Bankers Association says legislation introduced in the Senate Tuesday gives it hope that banks can avoid a pending cut in the fees they receive from merchants on debit card transactions. The so-called Durbin amendment, named after sponsor Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, mandates the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors put [...]