The hemp industry wants additional regulation. Yes, you read that correctly, and stakeholders are coalescing to push for action from the federal government. The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill provided momentum for the retail cannabidiol (“CBD”) industry, and the lack of complete regulatory clarity from the federal government has led many in the industry … Continue Reading
A new year means a new congressional session – yet our lawmakers are carrying over policy debates that did not conclude in consensus prior to their holiday recess. The House of Representatives and Senate will consider critical government funding legislation, deadline-driven authorizing bills, and other potential reforms, but agreement will need to be found between … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Sonny Perdue’s Upcoming Challenges As President Trump is reflecting on his first 100 days in office, Sonny Perdue is just getting his feet wet in his new position as Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). On April 25, less than 24 hours after the Senate overwhelmingly approved his nomination by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Agriculture Committee to Debate SNAP Purchase Restrictions This week, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to explore the effects of restricting certain purchases for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. The committee will hear from five witnesses representing varied backgrounds. The witnesses are said to represent the American Enterprise Institute, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Outlook for the 115th Congress On Tuesday, January 31, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee – led by Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – held a brief business meeting to adopt the committee’s rules and funding resolution for the 115th Congress. Chairman Roberts announced that a separate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Catfish Inspection Program Although discussions surrounding government regulation of catfish have slowed on Capitol Hill since the enactment of the 2014 Farm Bill, the catfish inspection program at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is likely to once again be the subject of great scrutiny and debate as legislators begin to prepare … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Signed into Law On Friday, President Obama signed the farm bill into law, which authorizes specific commodity, trade, energy, research, horticulture and organic, and nutrition programs until 2018. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Amy … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate will vote on and likely pass the farm bill conference report that the Congressional Budget Office scored at a little over $16 billion in cost savings. The scheduled Senate vote comes after the House passed the report by a vote of 251-61 last Wednesday. In the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Conference Progress This evening, we expect the farm bill conference committee to file its conference report. The committee will likely use most of today to reach a final agreement on issues related to country-of-origin labeling, language in the House’s farm bill that would prevent states from denying the sale of products … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Conference Progress With the farm bill conference committee stalled because of strong disagreements over dairy provisions, last week the committee failed to release its draft bill and canceled its public meeting. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) continues to signal that he will not support a conferenced bill that includes a dairy … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Conference Progress This week, we expect the four farm bill conference principals to take significant steps in bringing an agreed upon bill to the House and Senate floors this month. The conference committee is likely to meet for two to three days to negotiate the remaining issues of a nearly completed … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Conference: Priority Issues At-A-Glance On October 30, the 41 House and Senate farm bill conferees convened at a public meeting to formally kick-off negotiations, although informal talks began a few months ago between agriculture leadership’s staff. Despite many conferees cautioning against pre-maturely drawing lines on issues, it was clear what issues … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY Farm Bill Conference This Wednesday, October 30, marks the official start to the farm bill conference, which will be a public meeting involving the 41 House and Senate conferees. For months, agriculture leadership and their staff have met behind the scenes on an informal basis to start conversations on reconciling the two farm … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY Farm Bill Conferees On Saturday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) named farm bill conferees. The Republicans appointed 17 members, including 12 Agriculture Committee members, two Foreign Affairs Committee members, two Ways and Means Committee members, and one member to represent the Republican leadership. Republican conferees … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill As expected, early last week the Senate reappointed its farm bill conferees. The House, however, has yet to name its conferees. In late September, staff had indicated that the House would appoint conferees shortly after October 1. With the government shutdown, the appointment of conferees will likely be postponed until Congress … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY FARM BILL On Saturday, September 28, in its fast-track rule to consider the continuing resolution, the House approved (by a vote of 226-191) a rule to merge its “agriculture-only” bill and the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3102), which would cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food … Continue Reading
