Senate Leaves Town Without Addressing Major Issues Before Midterms

The Senate left Washington, D.C., Wednesday without addressing several key issues before the midterm elections.

The upper chamber is not set to return until after the midterm elections, although high prices and key legislative issues remain unresolved. Senators did not address the farm bill, artificial intelligence (AI), mass surveillance or high costs — a key issue for voters.

Senate Democrats blocked The Ratepayer Protection Act Wednesday, which would have required states to consider making data centers pay for rising electricity costs caused by grid updates. The bill did not require states to force data centers to pay more, causing many senators to argue the legislation would have no real impact.

Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted hoped passing the bill would boost his chances in his competitive race against former Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Electric bills in high concentration states surged faster than the 6 percent national average, rising 13 percent in Virginia, 16 percent in Illinois and 12 percent in Ohio over a one-year time frame, according to CNBC.

Affordability remained a top issue for voters in the midterm elections while prices of energy, electricity and gas surged since the start of the Iran war. Some Democrats worried about the optics of voting down a bill that intended to help with rising electricity costs before the election, although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “fraud” during a Tuesday press gaggle.

Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire voted with Republicans to advance the legislation.

Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins urged her colleagues in September to pass a bill addressing affordability before they left town as she faces a competitive November race against Democratic Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson.

Republicans left without taking up resolutions under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to target California’s energy policies, including a House-passed measure that would remove state’s import-export tax on goods that come through its ports, Punchbowl News reported. Some of the CRAs will have expired by the time the Senate returns, which is a win for Democrats.

Senators did not vote on the farm bill after the 2018 extension expired Tuesday. The expiration will cause major uncertainty for farmers, low income families and rural voters because of the funding halts to conservation, rural development, agricultural research and loans for farmers.