After “playing footsie” with big oil companies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a “public relations problem” with Iowa ethanol industry leaders and farmers, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Tuesday. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Monday that he ‘guarantees’ the changes the agency proposes making to the RFS will ensure 15 billion gallons of ethanol are blended into the nation’s fuel supply. (Des Moines Register)

A key tax break for small brewers in Illinois is set to expire at the end of the year. The 2017 federal tax reform law included a provision that cut the federal excise tax per barrel of beer from $7 to $3.50. That applied to the first 60,000 barrels produced by any brewery that made less than 2 million barrels per year. If no action is taken in Washington, that rate will spring back at the end of 2019. (The Center Square)

The market for skilled ag workers is tighter than it’s been in years despite today’s depressed agricultural economy. (Agri-Pulse)  

USDA recently held a second Data Users’ Meeting for the year in Washington, D.C., at the urging of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The meeting was organized by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in cooperation with six other related agencies. The respective agencies discussed what kinds of data they collect, as well as how they manage it, analyze it and disseminate the results. (FarmWeekNow)

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) announced the 30 local community and government organizations across the state that will receive a combined $20 million to maximize Illinois’ success in the 2020 Census. The grants are the largest Census investment made by any state in 2019. (IDHS)  

Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled Monday a multi-year plan to spend $23.5 billion on road and bridge projects that were included in Illinois’ $45 billion capital plan. The Rebuild Illinois plan enacted this summer doubled the state’s gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents a gallon. Taxpayers have already paid more than $414 million in just two months, $200 million more than the year before. The plan also increased other driving fees. Such funds are going to roads and bridges in the plan. (The Center Square)