WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2016 - Republican congressional
leaders are providing little reason for optimism that the Trans-Pacific
Partnership will get a vote before the end of the year.
In a news conference a day after Congress wrapped up its pre-election work,
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said flatly that he doesn’t think that
TPP has the votes to pass. He also said that the new president is going to have
to shift positions on the trade agreement in order for TPP to have a chance in
the next Congress.
“I believe that if it were brought up this year it would be defeated anyway,
leading you to raise the obvious question: ’If you’re interested in America
being in the trading business in the future in what way is it advantageous to
have a trade agreement go down?’”
He said the TPP is “politically toxic, and I don’t think the Congress is ready
to tackle it in any positive way.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has also been pessimistic about chances for a TPP
vote this year, declined to comment on the issue when he was asked about it at
a separate news conference yesterday. He said he had nothing new to say.
McConnell: ‘committed’ to considering tax extenders. McConnell has much better
news for the biofuels industry, who are lobbying Congress to extend a series of
tax subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, has said he
doesn’t want to pass any tax extenders this year, but McConnell indicated they
would be on the Senate’s agenda. “We’re committed to taking a look at that
before the end of the year,” McConnell said.
The expiring measures include the $1-a-gallon tax credit that subsidizes
biodiesel as well as tax benefits for cellulosic fuels and E85 pumps.
GOP senators: Drop estate tax rules. Forty-one Republican senators are
siding with farm
groups and small businesses and urging the Treasury Department to
withdraw proposed
regulations that could increase the value of estates for tax purposes.
“Treasury should pursue policies that encourage the creation and growth of
small businesses, not propose regulatory changes that make it more difficult
and costly for families to transfer ownership to future generations,” the
senators write.
Treasury officials say they’re closing a loophole that allows owners of closely
held businesses to artificially lower the value of their assets. Every
Republican on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee signed the letter except
for three who are in tight re-election races in North Carolina, Ohio and
Pennsylvania.
Congress updates livestock auction regs. Congress has sent the White House
a bill that will extend the requirements of the Packers and Stockyards
Act to online and video auctions that are charging commissions or fees.
Supporters say the bill, which passed both the House and Senate this week, will
protect producers who sell online and ensure the use of electronic payment
methods.
The chairman of the Livestock Marketing Association, Dan Harris, says the bill
is a “huge step forward” for the industry. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., says
“it’s time that our livestock auction laws reflect the world we live in.”
Egg, poultry, soybean representatives head to Cuba. Earlier this year,
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that he would start allowing
checkoff-funded producer groups to travel to Cuba. And this week,
representatives of egg and poultry sectors are on a four-day fact-finding
mission in Cuba, along with the United Soybean Board.
Anne Alonzo, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, says exports are
crucial to the future for egg producers and that eggs could be a low-cost way
to improve Cubans’ diets. “We are always looking for innovative ways to grow
egg demand and broaden commodity trade,” she said.
Urban agriculture gets focus. Urban agriculture and its future in the next
farm bill are the subject of an all-day
conference today. The speakers and panelists include Ohio
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a long-time member of the House Appropriations
Committee; Elanor Starmer, administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service and A.G. Kawamura, a former California agriculture secretary who’s a
member of Donald Trump’s agriculture advisory council.
The conference sponsors include AGree and Michigan State University.
Earlier this week, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee,
Debbie Stabenow, released legislation to
open a number of USDA programs to those involved in urban production
agriculture.
Looking ahead. Vilsack will be speaking at the National Press Club on
Monday. His remarks will focus on the benefits of the biobased economy to rural
America.
On Wednesday, he’ll head to the swing state of Pennsylvania to host a White
House Rural Forum. He’ll be joined by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, as well as
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, and economic development
experts from other states.
She said it. “We’re not even at the beach. Let us take this down the road
and we’ll see where it is.” - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of
California, responding to comments by a colleague that there didn’t appear to
be a “wave” developing that would give Democrats control of the House.
#30
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
