The produce industry did not get what it wanted for Christmas.
What it wanted: passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) before Congress adjourns supported by the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) BB #:378962, along with hundreds of other agricultural organizations.
The bill, needing 60 votes in the Senate and not having a single one from Republicans, had no hope on its own. Its one last chance: to be passed in the omnibus bill, which funds federal operations in 2023, and which is expected to pass by the time Congress adjourns on December 23.
But that bill did not address FWMA, so it is dead for the rest of this lame-duck term (which ends on December 23) and probably for the next two years in Congress.
IFPA expressed “extreme disappointment” at the decision. Congress fails to include ag labor reform in omnibus spending bill – Produce Blue Book
“Congress missed a huge opportunity and did not do their part to improve production and increase the legal supply of labor,” said IFPA chief policy officer Robert Guenther. “Because of this inaction, consumers will continue to see record prices at the grocery store, producers will continue to face unaffordable, unpredictable input costs from out-of-control wage hikes, and we will continue down the path to being a nation that is increasingly food insecure. We implore the Senate to not walk away from this effort before they adjourn.”
In a speech to the Senate on December 19, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) delivered a last-minute plea for the passage of the bill.
“We don’t have to accept hundreds of thousands of people living in the shadows, when they work every single day—they’re breaking their backs, and I don’t use that term lightly, working in some of the worst conditions that there are to work in—to feed the American people. To give us economic security and food security and provide for our national security,” said Bennet. “And we shouldn’t accept crushing food prices for families just because this Congress can’t reform an antiquated H-2A program. And we can do something about this this week before we go home with this proposal.”
But the Senate didn’t do anything.
One item that did make it into the bill: “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program saw a $13.4 billion increase, and boosts of $28.5 billion for child nutrition programs and $6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children were also included,” reports The Hill.
Republican leaders have signaled that they will have nothing to do with the farm labor bill when they are in control of the House of Representatives.
Ever since the nineteenth century, the Republican party has billed itself on being the party of business.
Maybe it’s not the party of business anymore.
