Dairy Pricing and Policy Commission Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8274 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Dairy Pricing and Policy Commission, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Dairy Pricing and Policy Commission, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dairy Pricing and Pol- 4 icy Commission Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DAIRY PRICING AND POLICY COMMISSION. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 7 the date on which funds are first made available to carry 8 out this section, the Secretary shall establish a commission 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8274 IH to be known as the ‘‘Dairy Pricing and Policy Commis- 1 sion’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 2 (b) STUDY BY COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 3 conduct, with respect to the 10-year period ending on the 4 date of the enactment of this Act, a comprehensive study 5 of the following: 6 (1) Decreasing real values of dairy farmer milk 7 prices and income. 8 (2) Economic and policy causes for the declin- 9 ing number of small and medium sized dairy oper- 10 ations. 11 (3) Levels of milk production in the United 12 States with regional changes in farm numbers, cow 13 numbers, and milk production per cow. 14 (4) Opportunities and challenges for increasing 15 domestic and export demand for dairy products. 16 (5) The effects of declining dairy farm numbers 17 on rural economies. 18 (6) Causes for the consolidation within the 19 dairy industry. 20 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In conducting the study 21 pursuant to subsection (b), the Commission shall develop 22 legislative, regulatory, and market-based recommendations 23 for the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8274 IH (1) Responding to periods of heightened dairy 1 production during low prices by considering better 2 supply chain coordination and market price signals. 3 (2) Enhancing the competitiveness of American 4 dairy producers and dairy products in world mar- 5 kets. 6 (3) Evaluating and identifying challenges and 7 opportunities for new markets for dairy exports. 8 (4) Ensuring that Federal Milk Marketing Or- 9 ders (FMMO) and FMMO rulemakings are trans- 10 parent and provide a fair return to producers re- 11 gardless of the end product for which their milk is 12 used. 13 (5) Ensuring that the competitiveness of dairy 14 products with other competing products in the mar- 15 ketplace is preserved and enhanced. 16 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 17 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com- 18 mission shall be composed of 18 members appointed 19 by the Secretary as follows: 20 (A) At least 1 member representing a na- 21 tional consumer organization. 22 (B) At least 3 members representing land- 23 grant colleges and universities or covered 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8274 IH NLGCA Institutions, with at least two of such 1 members having expertise in economics. 2 (C) At least 1 member representing the 3 food and beverage retail sector. 4 (D) Six dairy producers representing a va- 5 riety of farming practices and sizes and 3 dairy 6 processors, appointed so as to balance geo- 7 graphical distribution of milk production and 8 dairy processing, reflect major product seg- 9 ments of dairy processing, and represent all re- 10 gions of the United States equitably, including 11 States that operate outside of a Federal Milk 12 Marketing Order. 13 (E) At least 2 members shall represent 14 dairy farmer, cooperative, or dairy processor, 15 associations. 16 (F) At least 2 members shall represent 17 dairy industry experts in the field of milk pric- 18 ing, finance, marketing, risk management, con- 19 sulting, or advisory services (or some combina- 20 tion thereof). 21 (2) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed 22 for the duration of the Commission. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8274 IH (3) VACANCY.—Any vacancy occurring before 1 the termination of the Commission shall be filled in 2 the same manner as the original appointment. 3 (4) PAY.—Members shall serve without pay, but 4 shall be entitled to receive a reimbursement from the 5 Secretary from existing budget authority for reason- 6 able expenses necessary to carry out the duties of 7 the Commission. 8 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The members shall elect a 9 member to serve as Chairperson of the Commission 10 for the duration of the Commission. 11 (6) VOTING.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission is 13 unable to reach a consensus on a proposed rec- 14 ommendation or determination, the Commission 15 may decide the matter by majority vote of its 16 members. 17 (B) TIE VOTES.—The Chairperson of the 18 Commission, in addition to voting, may also 19 break any tie vote. 20 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Sec- 21 retary shall provide to the Commission the administrative 22 support services necessary for the Commission to carry out 23 the requirements under this section. 24 (f) REPORT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8274 IH (1) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than 2 1 years after the date of the first meeting of the Com- 2 mission, the Commission shall submit to the Sec- 3 retary and Congress a report containing the results 4 of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (b), 5 including the legislative and regulatory recommenda- 6 tions developed pursuant to subsection (c). 7 (2) OPINIONS.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 9 graph (B), the report shall reflect, to the extent 10 practicable, a consensus opinion of the mem- 11 bers. 12 (B) EXCEPTION.—If the members did not 13 reach a consensus opinion with respect to a 14 matter, the report may include majority and 15 minority findings regarding such matter. 16 (g) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Section 17 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 18 U.S.C. App.; relating to the termination of advisory com- 19 mittees) shall not apply to the Commission. 20 (h) ADVISORY NATURE.—The Commission is wholly 21 advisory in nature, and the recommendations of the Com- 22 mission are nonbinding. 23 (i) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Sec- 24 retary shall not allow the existence of the Commission to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8274 IH impede, delay, or otherwise affect any decision-making 1 process of the Department of Agriculture, including any 2 rulemaking procedures planned, proposed, or near comple- 3 tion. 4 (j) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 5 shall provide administrative support to the Commission, 6 and expend to carry out this section such funds as nec- 7 essary from budget authority available to the Secretary. 8 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9 authorized to be appropriated $50,000 to carry out this 10 section. 11 (l) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 12 on the earlier of the following: 13 (1) The date of the submission of the report 14 pursuant to subsection (f). 15 (2) The date that is 2 years after the date of 16 the first meeting of the Commission. 17 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 (1) COVERED NLGCA INSTITUTION.—The term 19 ‘‘covered NLGCA Institution’’ means an institution 20 that— 21 (A) is an NLGCA Institution; and 22 (B) offers an accredited dairy economic 23 program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8274 IH (2) FEDERAL MILK MARKETING ORDER.—The 1 term ‘‘Federal milk marketing order’’ means a Fed- 2 eral milk marketing order issued under section 8c of 3 the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), 4 reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural 5 Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. 6 (3) LAND-GRANT COLLEGES AND UNIVER- 7 SITIES.—The term ‘‘land-grant colleges and univer- 8 sities’’ has the meaning given such term in section 9 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Exten- 10 sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 11 3103). 12 (4) NLGCA INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘NLGCA 13 Institution’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 14 tion 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, 15 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 16 U.S.C. 3103). 17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of Agriculture. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8274.IH H8274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS