On June 9, 2015, the
United States House of Representatives passed by voice vote three agriculturally
related bills: H.R. 2051 Mandatory Price Reporting Act, H.R. 2088 United States
Grain Standards Reauthorization Act, and H.R. 2394 National Forest Foundation Reauthorization
Act. The bills were reauthorizations which
the House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Michael Conaway (R-TX), wanted passed
before the bills expired. The bills
still need to be presented and passed by the Senate.
In a statement on
Tuesday, Conaway commented, “As Chairman, my first goal was to have all
reauthorizations taken care of before the deadlines passed, and that’s what we
accomplished today. In fact, this completes our work in cleaning up the books
of the House Agriculture Committee, addressing every item on the Congressional
Budget Office’s (CBO) list of unauthorized appropriations under the Committee’s
jurisdiction.” He further stated the
Acts are essential for farmers and ranchers to continue having necessary
resources to carry out operations.
House Bill, 2051
Mandatory Price Reporting Act, would reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Price
Reporting Act of 1999, which was set to expire on Sept. 30, 2015. According to the House Committee on Agriculture website, the Act mandated “price reporting for live cattle, boxed
beef, and live swine” as well as “allowed United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to establish mandatory price reporting for lamb sales.” The Act was originally created in response to
changing markets and the lack of reporting sale prices as larger volumes of
animals were being sold via marketing arrangements. The price reporting mechanism that was previously
voluntary became mandatory with the enactment of the 1999 legislation, the goal
being to facilitate price transparency.
House Bill, 2088 United
States Grain Standards Act, would reauthorize the United States Grain Standards
Act of 1916. According to the House Committee on Agriculture website, the Act gives “the federal government authorization to
establish official marketing standards for grains and oilseeds and provided
procedures for grain inspection and weighing.”
Written by Katharine Richter- Research Assistant
June 10, 2015
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