View from Washington By Tyson Redpath, The Russell Group
New Year, More Subdued Congressional Agenda
A new year has started and, with it, the second
session of the 117th Congress has begun. Without
electoral college violence or clear sightlines on what
the legislative body might accomplish, the two
immediate issues needing attention are: the fiscal year budget
(currently operating on extension through Feb. 18), and the faint
flicker of hope Congress can find a way toward completion of
the Build Back Better legislation.
The mountainous surge of omicron COVID-19 cases has
reopened the possibility of additional emergency designated
relief funding in the unfinished budget appropriations. This
window of opportunity is a fresh chance for the restaurant and
fitness industries, still battered by whimsical local ordinances,
to vie for financial relief they say has been two years overdue.
Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, and Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi,
are working to include a services industry relief package to
provide relief funding in the appropriations bills. But the Biden
administration has not signaled if it will seek additional funds or
support additional relief funding for certain service industries.
In a break from past tradition and, likely a nod toward the
uncertain state of the pandemic, President Biden will lay out
his vision for the year ahead at a later-than-usual State of the
Union address March 1. By then, the fates of both Build Back
Better and the omnibus appropriations bills will be known, and,
by most accounts, the winter surge of COVID-19 cases should
be behind us.
Thereafter, the must-do priority list for Congress is
light. Between March and the end of September, when the
government fiscal year ends, Congress faces three key deadlines.
On March 31, mandatory budget cuts (known as sequestration)
take effect on Medicare. On May 1, the COVID-19 related pause
on student loan interest and payments will end. Then on June
30, Trade Adjustment Assistance for U.S. workers fully phases
out, prompting free trade supporters to hope this deadline
may spur the administration’s request to reauthorize Trade
Promotion Authority.
The House of Representatives will recess for the entire
month of October with all 435 seats up for election Nov. 8. Both
the House and Senate will return after Election Day for what is
known as a lame duck session, when among other looming year-end
deadlines, the biodiesel and renewable diesel blender’s tax
credits expire. Those credits were revived at the end of 2019
and will be among the highest federal priorities for the industry
in the year ahead.
Meat Industry on White House
Front Burner
The White House kicked off the new year with a return
to a favorite villain of higher food prices, the meat industry,
by announcing a series of actions aimed at fighting for “fairer
prices for farmers and consumers.” Dismissed as “transitory”
inflation in July, when President Biden issued an executive order
on promoting competition, the White House acknowledged the
real and lasting impacts of economy-wide inflation at a forum
on meat industry competition held Jan. 3 with independent
processors, farmers and ranchers.
Turning to money first as the solution, the White House
and U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability
of $800 million to provide funding for independent processing
plants and to make more capital available to independent
producers and processors. From this amount, $100 million will
be made available for workforce development in the sector and
$50 million for technical assistance.
Aside from throwing money at the issue, the administration
also announced policy changes and new rules, including
upcoming modifications to the Packers & Stockyards (P&S) Act, a
law first written in 1921 to regulate meatpackers and processors.
In an accompanying factsheet, the White House said USDA has
already begun work on three proposed rules to provide “greater
clarity” and strengthen enforcement under P&S.
6 February 2022 Render www.rendermagazine.com
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