On Tuesday last week, Senate Democrats celebrated as S.510, the food safety bill, passed the Senate, gaining 73 votes in its favor, including 11 Republican votes. In addition, the House of Representatives agreed in principle to the Senate version of the bill. However, the discovery of a technical flaw in the bill hours after it passed means that the legislation will need to be updated before it can reach President Obama's desk to be signed into law.

The problem: All legislative proposals that raise revenue for the federal government must start in the House. Unfortunately for the legislation's supporters, one element of the bill put forth in the Senate would likely enhance revenue. The particular proposal would allow the Food and Drug Administration to collect fees from food importers and producers that issue recall or fail inspections. Since the collection of fees would in effect raise revenue, the Senate does not have the authority to grant the FDA such powers.

While this revelation is not enough to kill the bill, it does slow down the legislative process. With a lot left on its plate, the Senate was already set to deal with a great number of bills besides one it had already passed. Although the bill drew bipartisan support, Republicans say that they will not work on other legislation until the Bush-era tax cuts are extended.

President to Sign Child Nutrition Bill

Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who lost her re-election bid, won what is likely to be her final major legislative victory with the passage of the child nutrition bill in the House. In August, the bill already passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. The legislation, which has also been a major cause for First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her Let's Move! campaign to combat childhood obesity, passed by a vote of 264 to 157, with 247 Democrats and 17 Republicans in favor of the bill. A total of four Democrats and 153 Republicans were opposed.

The legislation is set to increase spending on childhood nutrition for the first time since 1973, by a total of $4.5 billion. Half of this additional spending is paid for through cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as the food stamp program. While initially many liberal Democrats were lukewarm on the bill due to this provision, they passed it with the belief that any childhood nutrition bill considered in the upcoming Congress with a Republican-controlled House would be less to their liking.

Schumer Takes Up Body Scan Issue

According to the Transportation Security Administration, the body scanners seen at airports and other public facilities in the United States produce images that cannot be stored, transmitted or printed and are deleted after being reviewed. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to go a step further by making it a crime to record or distribute any image of individuals created by these scanners. Citing privacy concerns, Schumer has put forward a bill that would subject violators to measures such as imprisonment for up to one year and/or fines of up to $100,000. Creating reproductions of body scan images taken using personal devices, such as digital cameras or smart phones, would also be subject to the same legal consequences.

Obama, GOP Nearing Tax Cut Extension Agreement?

Perhaps no issue considered this lame duck session of Congress has commanded more attention than the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. While Republicans have been adamant that all of the tax cuts stay in place, Democrats by and large have only been open to extending the rate cuts for those for brackets under $250,000-$1 million, with the cap varying depending on which Democratic plan is being discussed. President Obama has said that he is open to extending all of the Bush-era tax cuts if Congressional Republicans are willing to compromise by agreeing to an extension of unemployment insurance.