H 2642 Amended and Passed in Senate

On Thursday the Senate substituted the language from S 954 for the recently passed language of HR 2642, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, and then passed the measure by unanimous consent. The Senate version of the bill does not have any chemical security or chemical safety measures included.

There is a decent chance that the chemical safety and security measures included in the House version might make their way back into the bill during conference.

If a conference can resolve the differences in the two bills then the revised bill will stand a good chance of being able to pass in the House with at least some bipartisan support. A substantial number of Democratic votes will be required to overcome the objections of the conservative Republicans that blocked the passage of HR 1947.

The open question is if the House can vote to go to conference on this bill without passing a food stamp bill. A vote for conference would almost certainly pass with Democratic support but also with large and vocal opposition from conservative members. The question is whether or not the Speaker will be able to withstand the intra-party attacks if he brings the vote to the floor.