House, Senate Subcommittees Advance Agriculture Appropriations Legislation
The House and Senate appropriations subcommittees for agriculture considered on May 20 draft bills for agriculture funding in fiscal year 2015 that contain similar overall funding levels. Neither chamber amended the bills, opting to allow the amendment process to take place during full committee mark ups. The House draft legislation (here), released on May 19, provides $142.5 billion in total funding for the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and related agencies, including $20.9 billion in discretionary funding (see 14051919).
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The Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies approved the draft bill without debate, but has yet to release the legislation. The Senate bill provides $20.57 billion in total discretionary appropriations, including $2.59 billion for the FDA and $1.02 billion for the FSIS, according to Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., at the mark up. The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the legislation on May 22.
Subcommittee ranking member Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he does not anticipate Senate lawmakers will try to make changes to country of origin labeling (COOL) regulations during the amendment process. “But the amendment process is what it is and I don’t know what other members might be thinking of,” said Blunt after leaving the subcommittee mark up. “Having a Farm Bill done takes quite a bit of pressure off this bill to solve immediate problems.” More than 170 environmental, labor and other advocacy organizations urged Senate Appropriations Committee leadership to resist changes to COOL regulations in a May 20 letter (see 14051926).