Representative Joe Walsh (R-IL) has introduced the Dairy Pricing Deregulation Act to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act to deregulate the Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing. The bill, H.R. 3372, was introduced on November 4 and referred to the House Agriculture Committee.
IDFA’s boards of directors voted in April to ask Congress to phase out the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system. The board agreed that the industry should immediately move to a competitive pay price for manufactured milk but retain the existing Class I differentials until they can be phased out over a five-year period. The Walsh bill adopts the IDFA approach.
"We are very excited that Representative Walsh has introduced this legislation and will be working with him to get this bill passed by Congress," said Jerry Slominski, IDFA vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy. "If the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is serious about reducing federal spending by eliminating programs that have outlived their purpose, it should include the Walsh bill as it would save taxpayers billions of dollars.”
Read Rep. Walsh's news release here.
Read the text of the bill here.
For more information, contact Slominski at jslominski@idfa.org