Congress will try to wrap up every possible major issue this week in a sprint to adjournment for the year, scheduled for Friday. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told representatives “to keep their schedules flexible as we approach the end of the year.” The heavy lifting would come in two bills – the catch-all appropriations bill to fund the government for the rest of fiscal 2016 and a tax “extenders” bill.
The EPA is scheduled to publish its updated Renewable Fuels Standard on Monday in the Federal Register, opening the door to litigation that has been hinted since the agency announced a relaxation in the biofuels mandate. Lawsuits could appear almost immediately; at least one trade group says it will decide by the first week of January whether to sue the EPA, which satisfied no one with its Nov. 30 decision.
Major issues for food and agriculture in Congress include repeal of country-of-origin meat labels, federal pre-emption of state GMO food labeling laws, reauthorization of child nutrition programs costing $21 billion, and revival of tax incentives that include the $1 biodiesel tax credit, solar and wind power credits, and the Section 179 business expensing provision.
GOP leaders planned to unveil the omnibus bill today with floor action possible on Wednesday. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi warned against putting the tax extenders package into the omnibus bill. “I wouldn’t vote for it and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else vote for it,” Pelosi said, according to Roll Call. House Republicans want to make permanent some of the four dozen tax incentives in the package and extend others temporarily. Democrats have argued for more funding for earned income and child tax credits. As a fall-back, the Senate could vote on the two-year “extenders” bill approved last summer by the Finance Committee.
Chances of action on GMO labeling are low, Sen. Debbie Stabenow told Agri-Pulse last week. “I think it will be the first thing we have to work on in January,” she said.