News

Omnibus spending bill in the works

House leadership unveiled a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill which would fund most of the federal government through next September.

The bill would fund the Department of Homeland Security through February as Republicans hope to counter the President’s recent executive order on immigration by that time.

The bill also:

• Cuts EPA funding to $8.1 billion, the lowest funding level since 1989
• Blocks the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from requiring permits for normal farming practices involving certain farm ponds and irrigation ditches.
• Prohibits EPA from regulating lead in ammunition and fishing tackle
• Increases funding for the Food & Drug Administration for the Food Safety  Modernization Act.
• Reduces funding for the Women, Infants and Children program by $93 million but requires that white potatoes be eligible for purchase through the program.
• Reduces the amount of whole-grain products a school lunch program must purchase and relaxes reduced sodium standards set to take effect in 2017.
• Prevents the Fish and Wildlife Service from adding the Sage-Grouse to the Endangered Species List. The bill includes $15 million for sage-grouse habitat.
• $1 million to compensate livestock producers for animals lost to wolves.

 

The package is expected to be considered by the House Rules Committee today setting up a full House vote Thursday.  The Senate is expected to move as well this week, getting the bill through before current funding runs out on Thursday night.

 

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National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson and United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) President Danni Beer are not happy with three provisions in the omnibus spending bill being considered by Congress.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Johnson and Beer object to:

…language included on Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) could be used as an opportunity to stop the appeals process at the World Trade Organization or re-open the legislation that mandated COOL, both of which are unacceptable

…a provision that orders the Secretary of Agriculture to refrain from implementing a reformed beef checkoff program

…a legislative provision that prohibits the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA) from implementing regulations on the livestock and poultry industry that would address an array of fraudulent, deceptive, anti-competitive and retaliatory practices.  

The letter concludes: We strongly object to the use of the appropriations process as a mechanism to limit the secretary’s authority to uphold the COOL law, to respond to the dire need for reform of the beef checkoff, and to address anti-competitive market concerns.

Read the entire letter here: