U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) has won in his efforts to persuade the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to authorize staff hires needed to fill critical vacant positions at his home district’s Peoria, Ill., agriculture research lab.
“I am happy to learn that our work has led to bringing several new jobs for the Ag Lab so that further critical agriculture research can move forward with the support of additional scientists and staff,” said Rep. LaHood, who originally cosigned an April 20 bipartisan letter with U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) notifying USDA that 25 researcher positions remained unfilled at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria.
The NCAUR was staffed at 63 percent of its 350-employee capacity, according to the lawmakers, and the functional hiring freeze instituted there was “directly impacting agriculture research and the rural economy” in the state.
Specifically, Reps. LaHood and Bustos requested that USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky end the functional hiring freeze at the Peoria Ag Lab. In his response in a May 30 letter, the deputy secretary wrote that USDA had authorized the lab “to hire 7 scientists and 5 support staff” for critical positions.
“The great minds that continue to bring forth innovative research to help grow our agricultural economy have been vital to the Ag Lab’s continued success over recent decades,” Rep. LaHood said. “I am glad that the Trump Administration recognizes the value of the work done at the NCAUR and I look forward to continuing to support the Ag Lab in Peoria.”
Operating under the USDA Agricultural Research Services (ARS), the Peoria lab conducts research to boost agricultural production, enhance food safety and public health, spur economic development and advance environmental sustainability, according to NCAUR. The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposed closing the Peoria lab, but the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved funding for the lab in July 2017, according to the lawmakers’ April letter to Censky.
“The Ag Lab is essential, not just to the success of the Peoria region, but also to the future of American agriculture,” Rep. Bustos said last week. “I’m proud that our work will lead to several new jobs being filled at the Ag Lab.”
Deputy Secretary Censky wrote that it has been the policy of both USDA and ARS not to permanently fill positions in research labs targeted for closure in the administration’s budget proposals until Congress takes action on such proposals.
“However, we have authorized the hiring of post-doctoral scientists and the use of temporary hiring authorities to fill critical positions,” he wrote.
In response, Rep. Bustos said that despite the new hiring authorization, “we still need long-term assurances from the Trump Administration that fighting to save the Ag Lab doesn’t become an annual tradition.”