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Congress Returns to Washington

Sep 10, 2015

Congress returned to Washington this week with a heavy agenda and only 12 working days before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Politico categorized the top five food and agriculture issues to watch this fall as:

  1. Potential outbreak of avian influenza in the Southeast
  2. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) in the Senate, with Chairman Roberts favoring full repeal but a majority of the Senate Ag Committee favoring a voluntary labeling approach
  3. School lunch program reauthorization, which expires September 30
  4. Legislative action to force EPA and the Army Corps to rewrite the Waters of the US rule
  5. GMO labeling, with a possible hearing before the Senate Ag Committee yet this month.

In addition, the American Soybean Association (ASA) has priorities within several broader issues on the fall agenda, including getting increased truck weight limits in the surface transportation reauthorization bill (aka the Highway Bill); extension of the biodiesel tax credit; the higher Section 179 expensing limits; and Bonus Depreciation in the tax extenders package.