WASHINGTON — The egg producers and animal rights advocates who once battled over animal housing in California see a new farm bill as a chance to put an unusual alliance into action. If lawmakers agree, the bill would phase in
WASHINGTON — The egg producers and animal rights advocates who once battled over animal housing in California see a new farm bill as a chance to put an unusual alliance into action. If lawmakers agree, the bill would phase in the first national standards to include larger cages for egg-laying hens, stricter egg labeling and limits on ammonia buildup.
The farm bill, though, remains a work in progress for which 198 Senate amendments await action, any one of which could alter the legislation’s direction. Nor it is clear that the proposal for national henhouse standards, written by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, will last long enough to get a vote.
“I won’t bring it up if it’s going to lose,” Feinstein said.
Spanning 1,010 pages, the Senate’s farm bill, now being debated, gives skeptics and supporters alike plenty to chew over. Self-styled reformers can attack subsidies, and home-state lawmakers can seek regional advantage.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program, heavily used by the San Francisco-based Wine Institute and other California farm organizations promoting overseas sales, couldn’t pay for “wine tastings” or “reality TV shows” under an amendment authored by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wants to block farm bill support for popcorn, catfish, sugar and mohair producers.
California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer co-authored an amendment that would permit states to require special labels on genetically modified foods. An Oregon Democrat would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, while a Nevada Republican would prohibit members of Congress from receiving federal crop payments.
Twenty-three current members of Congress — six Democrats and 17 Republicans — have received farm payments since 1995, according to a database of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Many of these payments were small, such as California Democratic Rep. Jim Costa’s reported partial share of a $2,494 payment several years ago.
Symbolically, though, farm bill amendments can strike a chord, while the debate surrounding them can summon precious election-year coverage.
“Every effort should be made to ensure that members do not take advantage of their elected office for financial gain,” Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., intoned upon introducing his lawmaker subsidy amendment late last week.
