The House plans to finish work this week on a giant, eight-bill appropriations measure as lawmakers look to set up negotiations with the Senate on a fiscal 2018 budget agreement.
The House measure combines bills that fund nearly all the departments and agencies important to agriculture, including USDA, the Food and Drug Administration, the Interior and Labor departments, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The 2018 budget year begins Oct. 1, but the House and Senate have until Dec. 8 to reach an agreement on FY18 spending after the House gave final congressional approval on Friday to a bill that extends the government?s spending authority for three months.
That measure, approved by the House 316-90, also will provide more than $15 billion in hurricane relief while increasing the federal debt ceiling and extending for three months the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, which authorizes fees and requirements for the registration process. PRIA is due to expire at the end of this month and lawmakers are still trying to agree on a replacement bill.
Also this week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will speak to leaders of the National Farmers Union on Monday, when the group goes to the Agriculture Department as part of its annual fly-in.
Perdue will also go to New Orleans this week and speak to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture on Thursday during its annual meeting. The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, will address NASDA on Tuesday.
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