Weekly Food & Agriculture Update 7.23

Monday, July 23rd, 2018

WEEKLY FOOD & AGRICULTURE UPDATE

July 23, 2018

A quick look at what’s happening in Washington, D.C. that’s impacting food and agriculture. If you would like to subscribe to the receive the updates right to your inbox, please contact Marissa Dake. 

Big Picture Outlook

  • Schedule- The House and Senate remain in session this week. This is the last week that the House is in Session until after Labor Day.
  • Farm Bill Conference Taking Form–  On Wednesday, the House approved a motion to move the farm bill to conference with the Senate. Since then, Speaker Ryan (R-WI) and Minority Leader Pelosi (D-CA) have appointed a total of 47 conferees. The list consists of 29 Republicans and 18 Democrats, including Ag Committee leaders Chairman Conaway (R-TX) and Ranking Member Peterson (D-MN). This week, Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Schumer (D-NY) may appoint their conferees and hold a similar procedural vote to begin the conference process. The House will be off for their August recess after this week. The Senate will stay in D.C. for much of August, as the majority of their recess was cancelled by McConnell in June.
  • Ag Appropriations to be Debated in Senate– This week, the Senate will consider another ‘minibus’ appropriations bill, this time including Agriculture, Transportation/Housing and Urban Development, Financial Services, and Interior/Environment. The USDA/FDA bill was approved by the Ag Appropriations subcommittee in May, passing 31-0 and provides $145.1 billion in support of agricultural, rural development, conservation, and nutrition programs.

Nominations & Confirmations

  • James Blew to be Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the Department of Education.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, July 24

  • Two House Small Business Subcommittees–Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access and Agriculture, Energy, and Trade– will hold a joint hearing entitled “Investing in Rural America”.
  • Senate Ag will consider two nominees: Dan Berkovitz to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and James Hubbard to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment.

Thursday, July 26

  • Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science will examine the proposed FY19 budget for the United States Trade Representative.
  • The FDA will hold a public meeting to discuss the agency’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy.

A Quick Look Back

Pertinent Timing Ticker

69 total days until the farm bill expires (Sep. 30, 2018).