US Congress Senate Bill 935 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: Introduced on March 28 2019 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2019-03-28 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Pending: Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, And Forestry Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Establishes restrictions and requirements for checkoff programs, which are programs overseen by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote and provide research and information for a particular agricultural commodity without reference to specific producers or brands. The bill prohibits boards established to carry out a checkoff program or a USDA order issued under a checkoff program from entering into a contract or agreement to carry out program activities with a party that engages in activities to influence any government policy or action that relates to agriculture. A board or its employees or agents acting in their official capacity may not engage in any act that may involve a conflict of interest; anticompetitive activity; unfair or deceptive act or practice; or act that may be disparaging to, or in any way negatively portray, another agricultural commodity or product. Upon approval of USDA, a board may enter directly into contracts and agreements to carry out generic promotion, research, or other activities authorized by law if the agreement or contract requires records accounting for the funds received to be submitted to the board. The board must meet specified requirements regarding the publication of budgets and disbursements of funds. The USDA Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office must conduct specified audits regarding checkoff programs.

Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act of 2019

Sen. Mike Lee [R-UT]

Sen. Cory Booker [D-NJ]

Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-MA]

Date	Chamber	Action
2019-03-28	Senate	Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

SB934 (Related) 2019-03-28 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
HB5563 (Related) 2020-01-09 - Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
HB5699 (Related) 2020-01-29 - Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/935/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s935/BILLS-116s935is.pdf