Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Health Law Blogs -> Food Safety News

Health Law

: Food Safety News

Reid Wants to Pass Food Bills Before Recess

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Tuesday he hopes to pass pending food safety legislation and the child nutrition reauthorization, two major food bills, before August recess. 
 
Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), the primary sponsor of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which was unanimously voted out of committee in November, told POLITICO's Pulse yesterday he feels better about the bill's prospects "than I have in a long time."

The food safety bill has lost steam in the Senate, as Food Safety News recently reported, there are currently three challenges for the legislation: time, bisphenol-A (BPA) politics, and small farmer concerns.

Several media outlets recently reported that Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) insistence on adding controversial language to ban the use of BPA in food and drink containers is the primary holdup for the legislation.

Durbin told POLITICO's Pulse yesterday, however, he doesn't think BPA will be a problem, adding that he believes the bill will have bipartisan support.

"We're ready," he said. "We're talking to her; we're talking about the amendment, and I hope we can work something out."

Feinstein's office says she's still working with Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and ranking member Mike Enzi (R-WY) on a compromise.

Many insiders believe that if the bill were given a timeline for getting to floor, the final details would be ironed out and compromises would be reached.

Reid also said Tuesday he would like to move on the child nutrition reauthorization bill, which would raise the reimbursement rate for school lunch, make way for taking junk food and soda out of vending machines and snack bars, launch farm-to-school pilots, and expand school breakfast programs.

"It would be nice if we could do something with child nutrition--we're going to try to do that," Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday. "I'm told that that could be bipartisan."

The one-year extension on the current child nutrition bill expires September 30. The Senate is scheduled to begin a month-long recess August 9.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on July 29, 2010 (boomark / email).