News Releases
Crapo Votes to Prevent Tax Increase
Washington, D.C. - Today, the United States Senate took side-by-side votes on two very different tax proposals dealing with the possibility of large tax increases this coming January related to expiring tax provisions. The Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012, introduced by Senate Republicans and supported by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, would grant certainty to every American and small business owner that their taxes will not go up at the end of the year and provide time for Congress to deliver meanin… Continue Reading
July 21, 2012
Crapo: Reductions in Taxes and Spending Are Key to Bipartsian Agreement on Deficit
July 20, 2012
U.S. Senate Offices to Host Remote Hours in Coeur d'Alene Region
Coeur d'Alene, ID - Field representatives from the offices of Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch will host several Traveling District Office meetings in the coming weeks in St. Maries, Pinehurst and Fernwood. Congressional field representatives will be on hand to answer questions from individuals with specific problems with federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Veterans' Affairs and the Social Security Administration. Traveling district office hours also provide constituents a… Continue Reading
July 17, 2012
Fed Chairman: Focus on Need for Debt Reduction
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says reducing federal debts and deficits are important factors in improving the nation's economic recovery and the creation of new jobs. Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, of which Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is a member, Bernanke warned Congress that it is important to develop a long-term plan to reduce U.S. government debt levels while avoiding massive tax increases or spending cuts. "Chairman Bernanke told us that signi… Continue Reading
July 11, 2012
Crapo to Discuss Taxes in iTownhall Meeting
Washington, D.C. - In his last-scheduled iTownhall meeting before the August state work period, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will host a teleforum focusing on new and higher taxes that all Idahoans are facing at the end of the year. The iTownhall meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 18, at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time/6:00 p.m. Pacific. From the Obamacare health law, with its recently upheld tax increases projected to fall largely on middle-income families, to new tax proposals, the threat of i… Continue Reading
July 03, 2012
Idaho Delegation to Host Office Hours in Hailey and Fairfield on Wednesday, July 11
Hailey, ID - Field representatives from the offices of Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Congressman Mike Simpson will host Traveling District Office meetings on July 11 at Hailey City Hall from 9:00 to 11:00 AM, followed by office hours at Blaine County Senior Connection from 11:30 to 1:00 PM, and Fairfield City Hall from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Congressional field representatives will be on hand to answer questions from individuals with specific problems with federal agencies such as the Interna… Continue Reading
July 02, 2012
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Dam Safety Bill
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) recently introduced the Dam Safety Act of 2012 . The bill will extend funding authorization for the National Dam Safety Program, which provides grants to improve state dam safety programs through training, technical assistance, inspection, and research. "The importance of properly maintaining aging dams across the country cannot be overstated,"… Continue Reading
June 28, 2012
Supreme Court Confirms Health Mandate is a Tax Increase
Washington, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold President Obama's Health Care Law, ruling that the individual mandate provision is legal as a tax on the American people. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo issued the following statement: "Today's decision is very disappointing, and it is not the ruling that the American people wanted. Americans overwhelmingly want solutions that deliver what they need-access to high-quality, affordable health care. This law did not fix the rising cost … Continue Reading
June 21, 2012
Crapo: Farm Bill Still Busts the Budget
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo voted against the final version of the 2012 Farm Bill today, calling it inadequate in terms of reducing the federal debt and deficits that must be brought under control. "It is a positive step to bring market-oriented reforms in this bill; unfortunately those reforms do not extend to the bottom-line spending that must be reduced," Crapo said. The cost of the bill is estimated to be $100 billion annually. "We have to reduce spending and budg… Continue Reading
June 20, 2012
Crapo Staff Plans Bilingual Office Hours in Caldwell and Middleton
Caldwell - To better assist Idahoans with questions and issues concerning federal agencies and policies, staff from Idaho Senator Mike Crapo's office will travel to Caldwell and Middleton this month. Brian Raybon, Special Assistant to Senator Crapo, who is also fluent in Spanish, will be available at both the Middleton and Caldwell locations to assist Idahoans with any questions or problems related to federal agencies or with problems regarding federal programs. Crapo Remote Office H… Continue Reading
June 19, 2012
Senators Concerned with Proposed Caribou Designation
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have expressed concern to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Daniel Ashe about the size of the proposed critical habitat for caribou in north Idaho. Last November, the FWS proposed designating 375,562 acres of critical habitat for the Southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou. The proposed habitat, covering nearly 600 square miles, includes land in Boundary and Bonner c… Continue Reading
June 14, 2012
Crapo Welcomes Interns to State Offices
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo welcomes students to his office each semester to serve internships in his regional offices in Idaho and in Washington, D.C. All of the interns assist with constituent contacts, legislative responsibilities, office administrative tasks and other duties. This summer, Crapo has six interns serving in four regional offices. Idaho State Office, Boise Renata Poe is a senior at Boise State University studying English Literature, and plans to go into… Continue Reading
June 13, 2012
Senate Votes to Save Sugar Program
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate today closely defeated an amendment that would have cut the sugar program in the new farm bill. As co-chairman of the Senate Sweetener Caucus, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo spoke on the Senate floor about the importance of the sugar provisions to both sugar producers and consumers of sugar products. Idaho sugar producers bring in more than $1 billion in revenue annually to the state through the program that receives no taxpayer funding. Crapo stressed the sugar p… Continue Reading
June 11, 2012
Senators Introduce Amendment to Help Farmers, Main Street
Washington, D.C. - Today, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns filed an amendment to fulfill Congressional intent by providing an explicit exemption from margin requirements for non-financial end-users that qualify for the clearing exemption. The amendment is identical to H.R. 2682, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 370 to 24. Since the Dodd-Frank conference took place, there has been a debate over whether non-financial end-users are exempt f… Continue Reading
June 07, 2012
Crapo Announces Staff Changes in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is announcing two staff changes in his Washington, D.C., office. Peter Stegner is Crapo's new Legislative Assistant for environment, natural resources and other issues related to Crapo's membership on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Stegner brings with him a wealth of experience, having previously served as Regional Director and Staff Assistant at the North-Central Regional Office in Lewiston for more than three years, and most rec… Continue Reading
June 06, 2012
Senators Congratulate Sloan Award Recipients
Washington, D.C. - Achieving greater flexibility in the workplace is one of the key challenges facing organizations in the twenty-first century, and today Idaho Senator Mike Crapo and Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl congratulated the 2011 winners of the Sloan Award for rising to the challenge. The Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility recognizes companies that have successfully used flexibility to enhance both business results and employee goals. The senat… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
The Hill: Six pillars of wisdom? Senators need quick support for cuts, taxes
By Michael O'Brien Even if the Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of senators, can agree on how to cut the federal deficit, their plan will land with a deathly thud on Capitol Hill unless lawmakers in both parties quickly support it. For weeks Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and fellow Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) have worked to fashion a plan based on recommendations from… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
National Journal Daily: Mike Crapo, Up and Coming GOP Fiscal Leader
By Stacy Kaper He's not flashy or self-promoting but Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, looks to be an up-and-coming leader on fiscal issues in Republican ranks. The third-term senator and deputy whip was tapped by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last year to serve on President Obama's deficit-reduction commission, which he took some heat for supporting, and he is now trying to salvage the bipartisan "Gang of Six" process to work out a deficit reduction plan. Although those talks hi… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
Idaho Statesman: Crapo, other Senate Republicans, talk about the deficit with Obama in the White House
By Erika Bolstead WASHINGTON - Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, who's been involved in negotiations to reduce the deficit with the bipartisan "Group of Six" senators, called a meeting of Senate Republicans and the president a "good, candid and substantive discussion." Crapo and most of the Republicans in the Senate on Thursday attended the White House meeting, which Crapo said focused on "specific solutions" that could be "helpful to solving debt crisis." &qu… Continue Reading
June 01, 2012
Idaho Falls Post-Register: CHEERS to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho
Idaho Falls-- Cheers to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. One wouldn't have blamed Crapo had he followed the lead of Sen. Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who abandoned the bipartisan "Gang of Six" attempting to foster realistic solutions to the nation's soaring deficit. But Crapo hung in, even when a report broke that the Gang's other Republican, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, was thinking about following Coburn out the door. The "Gang of Six" is now the "Gang of … Continue Reading
