Dairy Reform Needed
By Congressman Mike Simpson
“Idaho’s dairy industry is the third largest in the country and significantly impacts the economy of our state.  Unfortunately, our dairy industry has suffered devastating losses in recent years due to escalating feed costs and plummeting milk prices, and federal dairy programs have proven unable to provide farmers with the tools to manage risk and succeed in volatile times.  Existing programs are costly and prohibitively complex, and they discourage dairy producers from making decisions that enable them to survive market downturns.

“When the dairy industry collapsed in 2009 low milk prices activated standing federal programs to support dairy farmers.  While the government spent more than $1 billion to support the industry through existing dairy programs during this time, including the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program, the Dairy Product Price Support Program (DPPSP), and the Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP), the programs were far from effective at staving off economic disaster.  What is more, they have done nothing to provide long-term certainty and stability to the market to prevent a similar collapse in the future.  These programs are expensive as well as unproductive:  MILC cost taxpayers $776 million in FY09 without providing the safety net needed to prevent a market collapse that year, and DEIP cost taxpayers $20 million in FY10 alone.  Existing programs encourage overproduction and take away incentives for dairy producers to manage risk effectively.

“It’s long past time to fix these problems and replace these outdated programs with an effective, fiscally responsible dairy program.  This is why I have been pleased to work with the Idaho Dairymen’s Association and Representative Collin Peterson to introduce H.R. 3062, the Dairy Security Act of 2011.  This legislation replaces the current programs with new risk management tools addressing the realities of today’s dairy industry, such as rising input costs and a growing export market.  In order to provide producers with security to prevent devastating losses when milk prices drop and feed costs are high while giving them flexibility manage risk, H.R. 3062 consist of three main components:

• The Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program, which calculates the producer’s margin based on the difference between the average national price of milk and the average feed cost, rather than based on the price of milk alone;
• The Dairy Market Stabilization Program, which discourages overproduction of milk and alerts producers when overproduction of milk may have significant consequences on their overall margins; and
• A streamlined Milk Marketing Orders basic pricing system that changes the way milk used to manufacture cheese is priced from a complicated end-product pricing formula to a more market-oriented competitive pricing system.

“These changes are long overdue, and the new programs are a vast improvement over the current flawed system.   I am confident that the Dairy Security Act of 2011 will move the dairy industry to a more market-focused industry while encouraging risk management and requiring less taxpayer assistance, positively impacting Idaho’s economy.”

Floor Schedule

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24TH
On Monday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
1) H.R. 295 - To amend the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 to authorize funds to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services specific to the Arctic for safe navigation, delineating the United States extended continental shelf, and the monitoring and description of coastal changes, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Don Young / Natural Resources Committee)
2) H.R. 441 - Kantishna Hills Renewable Energy Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. Don Young / Natural Resources Committee)
3) H.R. 818 - To direct the Secretary of the Interior to allow for prepayment of repayment contracts between the United States and the Uintah Water Conservancy District (Sponsored Rep. Jim Matheson / Natural Resources Committee)
4) H.R. 1160 - McKinney Lake National Fish Hatchery Conveyance Act (Sponsored by Rep. Larry Kissell / Natural Resources Committee)
5) H.R. 320 - Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act(Sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert / Natural Resources Committee)
6) H.R. 461 - South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act (Sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz / Natural Resources Committee)
7) H.R. 2594 - European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. John Mica / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25TH, AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m.

On Friday, the House is not in session.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
1) H.R. 2447 - To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines (Sponsored by Rep. Corrine Brown / Financial Services Committee)
2) H.R. 2527 - National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act (Sponsored by Rep. Richard Hanna / Financial Services Committee)
3) H.R. 2042 - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act of 2011 (Sponsored by Rep. Rick Larsen / Homeland Security Committee)

H.R. 1904 - Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2011 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 2576 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the calculation of modified adjusted gross income for purposes of determining eligibility for certain healthcare-related programs (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Diane Black / Ways and Means Committee)

H.R. 674 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the imposition of 3 percent withholding on certain payments made to vendors by government entities (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Wally Herger / Ways and Means Committee)