Policy briefs: August 2017

By Sarah Hubbart, director, Michael Torrey Associates

Congressional outlook: Congress is in recess until September. When lawmakers return, they will have a long list of big-picture items to accomplish, including approval of a spending package to keep the government funded past Sept. 30. Leadership is now pivoting from health care to tax reform. But first a budget resolution is needed to allow tax reform legislation to move forward.

Farm bill: The House Agriculture Committee has taken to the road for a series of farm bill listening sessions. On July 31, the House Agriculture Committee hosted a three-hour session at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. The committee and USDA Secretary Perdue heard from 80 farmers and ranchers, food bank employees, agricultural bankers and conservation groups. The committee also held a listening session on Aug. 3 at Farmfest in Morgan, Minn. DBMMC participated by providing comments to the committee. Additional listening sessions are scheduled around the country.

Secretary Perdue kicked off his own five-state RV tour, titled “Back to Our Roots Tour,” to gather input on the 2018 farm bill and how to grow rural prosperity. DBMMC had the opportunity to meet with Perdue during a quick stop in Wisconsin.

The Senate Ag Committee recently held a hearing on commodities, credit and crop insurance to prepare for the farm bill. 

Some relief for dairy farmers through changes to MPP was included in the FY18 Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill. However, the timeline for the bill is unknown and the provision is notably absent from the House of Representatives version of the bill.

NAFTA: Official NAFTA renegotiations began on Aug. 16 in Washington. Both the House Agriculture and Ways and Means committees held hearings calling attention to agriculture’s priorities in NAFTA, including expanding access for dairy exports to Canada. Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, discussed Canada’s recent pricing changes for ultra-filtered milk. He said NAFTA is an opportunity to improve transparency and reduce tariffs for dairy products.

Immigration: The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on agriculture guest worker programs. Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) announced he will soon release an updated version of his “AG Act” that was crafted with input from the agriculture community. The bill would expand agriculture guest worker visa eligibility to the dairy industry and would address some of the current H-2A program’s administrative burdens. This bill represents the best opportunity for meaningful immigration reform for agriculture.

In the Senate, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) introduced the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act, a bill that would reduce legal immigration and prioritize highly skilled workers, perhaps at the expense of the agriculture community. The bill has not received traction in the Senate.