Senate Bill 510 passed cloture

[Buster]

From what I read someone tried to add that in, but I am not sure if it is in what was signed or, if it is still in there, it will make it through reconciliation.

It didn't make it in. Big Food pitched a fit and said it wouldn't be fair.

The big hope here is with reconciliation. If they actually try to do that for house and senate versions, there probably won't be time and the clock will run out. But, alas, there is talk the House might just vote on the Senate version to expedite.

Keep your fingers crossed!

 

[Buster]

Okay, I was wrong. I misread a confusing NYT piece. Big Food complained, but it didn't stop the amendment...

"Protections for small producers that were recently added to the Food Safety Modernization Act have addressed some fears, but critics still question the bill's potential to harm local ranchers and farmers.

The bill, which is awaiting a final Senate vote, would give the Food and Drug Administration more power to regulate food producers and conduct inspections. It was introduced in response to several high-profile outbreaks of illnesses from tainted foods.

Criticisms from small food producers led lawmakers to include an exemption for businesses that sell goods directly to consumers and conduct less than $500,000 in annual sales. Those critics, including Recluse rancher Frank Wallis, argue the new the regulations would be too onerous for family-sized operations and could ultimately force them out of business.

"That is the real fear, that they are going to treat everyone the same, and they are going to treat them like Tyson Foods," said Wallis, who sells beef, eggs and other foods.

The family-scale exemption is known as the Tester Amendment, after its author, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana. While the lawmaker and grain farmer says the amendment protects family farmers from unnecessary new regulation, it hasn't entirely eliminated concerns about the bill."

source: http://trib.com/news/local/article_60f2ff21-a183-5667-b782-8fd8b7488238.html

 

[AL]

This is the reply from one of my senators, ;has nothing at all to do with the email I sent, but whatever lol :
Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

This legislation would expand the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to regulate food safety by more aggressively inspecting food production facilities and tracking food more closely as it moves through the stream of commerce. Incidents involving tainted tomatoes, spinach, and peanut butter are just a few of the recent examples that demonstrate the need for a more robust food safety inspection system. The bill would not modify the current jurisdictional boundaries between the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

On November 18, I voted for a procedural motion that allows for S. 510 to be debated in the full Senate. I will keep your views in mind as the Senate considers this legislation.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your views on this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future

 

[Damummis]

If that isn't a cheesy reply I don't know what is.

I bet they would add if they could.........
PS. Now go back under the rug where you belong.

 

[colowyo0809]

So far I haven't yet heard from any of the people I wrote to yesterday, other than an automated reply we'll see if I get anything back before the end of the week

 

[SKR8PN]

Found a very interesting article on Hot Air about this bill......

Food safety bill passes Senate, but dead in the water because
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posted at 8:48 am on December 1, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
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Apparently, no one told Harry Reid to check Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution before passing S510, the food-safety bill that Democrats hailed as a major lame-duck session achievement earlier this week and which ran afoul of their own party in the House. Section 107 of the bill raises taxes, and as any Constitutional scholar can attest or anyone else who has actually read the document that Senators swore to uphold when taking office only the House of Representatives has that power:

A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senates lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.

By pre-empting the Houses tax-writing authority, Senate Democrats appear to have touched off a power struggle with members of their own party in the House. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday, sending it to the House, but House Democrats are expected to use a procedure known as blue slipping to block the bill, according to House and Senate GOP aides.

The debacle could prove to be a major embarrassment for Senate Democrats, who sought Tuesday to make the relatively unknown bill a major political issue by sending out numerous news releases trumpeting its passage.

Section 107 of the bill includes a set of fees that are classified as revenue raisers, which are technically taxes under the Constitution. According to a House GOP leadership aide, that section has ruffled the feathers of Ways and Means Committee Democrats, who are expected to use the blue slip process to block completion of the bill.

Now what? The House will either block the bill entirely or pass its own version of it. The latter option will mean that Reid will have to hold a vote to reopen debate on the bill, and will need unanimous consent to limit that debate. Otherwise, it could take the rest of the legislative calendar in the Senate to move the bill before the session ends and the bill has to be reintroduced. Even if the House cooperated, the bill could later be challenged in court as being procedurally deficient.

Reid can forget about unanimous consent. Roll Call notes that Tom Coburn wont agree to it due to his strong opposition to the bill in any form. Meanwhile, the issue will continue to draw attention to Democrats continued expansion of the regulatory state while ignoring jobs and the budget.

Yesterday, Senate Democrats were crowing about this bill. Today, theyll be eating crow.

 

[ksalvagno]

Well, I sure hope that is true. Idiots.

 

[bibliophile birds]

I heard that all this farming regulation was going to be for farms producing over 500,000 a year.. don't remember where I saw it.
anyone know anything about this?

as Buster pointed out, the Tester-Hagan amendment was passed, even though Big Ag pitched a HUGE hissy fit. so YAY!

but that doesn't mean Big Ag didn't get their claws into it. the amendment originally exempted farms that direct marketed their products to consumers, stores, or restaurants, grossed under $500,000, and sold intrastate or within 400 miles of their farm. Big Ag got that last requirement down to 250 miles. the last i read, it didn't say whether you could still sell over that as long as it was intrastate, but i have a bad feeling that was taken as well.

 

[i_am2bz]

A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senates lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.

Section 107 of the bill includes a set of fees that are classified as revenue raisers, which are technically taxes under the Constitution.

'Course, the writer is assuming that anyone in the federal government even cares that what they do is constitutional or not...

Oops, did I say that outloud??

 

[kcsunshine]

Oops, I see someone already posted this. So if it's from 2 sources, there must be some truth to it.

The Senates controversial FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) now appears to be dead in the water!

As we reported to you yesterday, the Senate passed its version of the Food Safety bill by a margin of 73 to 25, and sent it on to the House of Representatives for approval. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) had previously agreed to accept the Senates bill in place of the Houses version, already approved, so this approval was expected to be pro-forma.

But it turns out that Section 107 of the Senate bill contains a revenue-raising (i.e., taxing) provision. And such a provision is unconstitutional: All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, according to Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution. Because the Senate violated the funding origination clause, the House has implemented a procedure known as blue slipping to block the bill, keeping it out of consideration and sending it back to the Senate.

The only possible quick fix would be a unanimous consent agreement in the Senate to strike that revenue-raising provision from the billbut Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has already stated that he will oppose, so unanimity will be impossible. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now faced with some tough choices: spend a huge amount of time all over again to deal with this (which is unlikely in a Lame Duck Congress, especially considering how controversial the bill is); or do nothing, and allow the bill to die at the end of this Congress. This will mean a new Food Safety Bill will be introduced next yearbut next years Congress will be very different from the current one, so we expect that the bill will look very different, and could be much more favorable to the natural health community.