News & Events

H.R. 2, the “Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018,” finally cleared the House Floor yesterday afternoon by a vote of 213-211. The bill failed to pass the House in May by a vote of 198-213. No Democrats voted for the House Farm Bill in May or yesterday.

The House Farm Bill, contains several significant wins for independent grocers.

The Senate Agriculture Committee marked up its version of the Farm Bill earlier this month, and it is expected to head to the Senate Floor for a vote before the Independence Day recess.

The current Farm Bill does not expire until September 30.

Courtesy of National Grocers Association (NGA)

“Yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee favorably reported the 2018 Farm Bill (S. 3042) cleared its committee with a 20–1 vote. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was the only dissenting vote on the bill.

Every five years Congress must past a Farm Bill that sets agriculture, nutrition, conservation and forestry policy. The current farm bill is set to expire in September, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has vowed to bring the 2018 Farm Bill to the Senate floor for a vote before the July 4 holiday.

On August 2, 2017 LD 1170 passed during 128th 1st Session of the Maine State Legislature, ‘An Act To Reduce Youth Access to Tobacco Products’. The result is that the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21 years of age will not be allowed starting on July 1, 2018. Under this new law (Title 22, Chapter 262-A: RETAIL TOBACCO SALES), a person may not sell, furnish, or give away a tobacco product to any person under the age of 21. The law has an exemption, allowing the sale of tobacco products for those who are 18 as of July 1, 2018.

The full House rejected the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2) with a vote of 198-213; 30 Republicans voted “No” today.  The motion will be reconsidered for a re-vote. We anticipate the House to vote on the farm bill again soon. No timing of the re-vote is yet known, and the House has finished voting for the week.

Our national counterparts have worked diligently to ensure language was included in the bill that protects food retailers from fees charged on SNAP transactions, worked to prevent both retailer and customer personally-identifying data from being shared, and so that the use of mobile technology innovation in relation to SNAP is included.