Effort from Senators Collins, King Ensures Harmful House Amendment Not in Farm Bill

House Amendment would have required states to accept agriculture products that may violate state and locals laws.

Washington, D.C. – Following a push from U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME), the final conference report of the 2018 Farm Bill does not include an amendment harmful to Maine that would have required state and local governments to accept products from other states even if those products violate standards and regulations enacted in the importing state.  The Farm Bill passed the Senate by a vote of 87-13 and now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

In August, Senators Collins and King joined a bipartisan group of 32 Senators in sending a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders urging them to reject this harmful House amendment during the conference negotiations. 

“We are delighted that the Senate bill prevailed, and that the final conference report did not include this harmful provision,” said Senators Collins and King.   “There are a number of state laws in Maine that would have been undermined if this amendment was adopted, including those on crate bans for livestock, consumer protections for blueberry inspections, and environmental safeguards for cranberry cultivation.”

The final agreement comes after the Senate and House of Representatives worked for weeks to reconcile the differences between each chamber’s version of the legislation.  The 2018 Farm Bill received overwhelming bipartisan support and passed the Senate by a vote of 87-13, and now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.