Senate Subcommittee Clears FY 2017 Agricultural Funding Bill
Legislation cleared on May 17 by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies would modestly add to White House requests for food safety and inspection activities, GOP committee leadership said in a press release (here). Compared with the Obama Administration’s February spending request, the bill would provide $15 million more for Food Safety Modernization Act implementation, and $3 million more for food safety and inspection programs, proposing $40.2 million, and $1.033 billion, overall, for those respective programs. The $147.7 billion legislation proposes $4.78 billion in total FDA funding, including user fee revenues.
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The Senate subcommittee-proposed bill does not have any provisions related to the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). The House Appropriations Committee on April 19 approved its version of the legislation, which would authorize GIPSA to exceed Congress’ $55 million limitation on agency inspection and weighing services by 10 percent with Congressional notification, according to the bill’s committee report (here). "The Committee recommendation does not include proposed user fees for Export and Color Certification, Food Facility Registration and Inspection, Food Import, International Courier, Cosmetics, or Food Contact Notification," said the report.
While no senators proposed amendments during the May 17 open subcommittee markup, Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., after the session told reporters that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if lawmakers from the Alaska Congressional Delegation consider pitching a provision related to genetically modified salmon, a controversial issue in the past (see 1602240028). None of Alaska’s three Congressional lawmakers commented.
Moran said he expects the legislation to be approved during the full committee’s May 19 markup, and that it could enter floor debate during the second or third week of June. “I’m anxious to go to conference and work out differences” between the two chambers’ legislation, he said. The House version of agriculture appropriations would provide $18.2 million more than the Senate bill for FSMA implementation, and does not include the $3 million proposed food safety and inspection bump-up included in its legislative counterpart, but matches the administration’s $1.03 billion request for the Food Safety and Inspection Service.