A federal program to aid farmers of color has been changed to omit references to race.

The proposal is part of a larger competition package being considered in Congress.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.., announced that he would back the package Thursday after previously raising inflation concerns.

A bill would put the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in charge. Some consumer advocates back the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sponsors have opened their checkbooks, and Washington state, where it was invented, named pickleball its official sport.

Those bipartisan calls from Congress follow the president’s ban on Russian oil and other energy imports.

There are shorter- and longer-term projects in Biden’s $1 trillion plan. State and local governments will influence how it’s spent.

If passed into law, it could create hundreds of thousands of jobs — and not just in construction.

“They are on the front lines of the food production industry in this country,” said Patrick Smith, who runs Loftus Ranches.

Congress has to fund the government for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 — and it’s slow going.