National Pork Board

Pork Management Conference

Washington Policy Update

June 2014

Chris WallNPPC Assistant Vice President, Public Policy

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Presentation Summary Budget Elections

Operation 218 PEDv Unfinished Business

• RFS• MCOOL• Tax Reform• Min Wage/ Unemployment Insurance

Regulations to Watch

• Immigration Reform• GIPSA• USDOT Hours of Service

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Mid-December: 2013 Budget Agreement:– FY 2014 and FY 2015: Cancelled Automatic

Discretionary Spending Cuts– Set Spending Caps for FY2014 & FY2015

First Bipartisan Budget Agreement Reached by a Divided Congress in 27 Years

FY2015 Appropriations Should Be More Regular Order – No Government Shutdown Expected

Budget

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Social Security $813 billion Defense $651 billion Medicare $504 billion Medicaid$267 billion Interest on the Debt $223 billion Subtotal (71% of Budget) $2.45 trillion

FY 2013 Revenues $2.7 trillionFY 2013 Outlays $3.45 trillion $680

billionDeficit

The FY2013 Federal Budget

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113th & 114th will Look Same; R Majority House Stable; Senate in Play:

Battle For Congress In Senate D’s Must Defend 14 of 16 Competitive Seats; Need

6 To Win Majority WV, SD, AL Almost Givens Arkansas Gone from R Pickup to D Hold KY Potential D Pickups…Not So Much in GA Watch NC

2014 Elections Outlook

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March Special Election Tampa Bay Area: Jolly (R) 48.4% vs. Sink (D) 46.6%

Half The Voters Than in 2012 R’s Say Repeat of 2010 When D’s Lost

House Then There Was Cantor

House Leadership Better? Speaker Race Just Got Interesting in 2015

2014 Elections Outlook

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Operation 218

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Operation 218• 73 Ag Votes in House On a Good Day

– 77% Of Those Votes Represented By R’s– R’s Represent Less Than Half Of Urban Votes Total– Majority Of Pork Issues Going Through Committees

Outside of Agriculture Committee• Have To Engage Urban/Suburban Members

– Most Of These Are Democrats With No Production– Most Have Historically Opposed NPPC On 1 or

More Issues

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Operation 218• Expanding to Non-Traditional Members

– Congressional Black Caucus– Congressional Hispanic Caucus– Women in Congress

• Identified Champions In Each To Be a Force Multiplier For Pork

• Entering Into Non-Traditional Issues– Obesity– Immigration– Charitable Giving

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Operation 218

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USDA PEDv Program• So Far So Good• $26.2 Million For:

– $7.8 Million for Research, Testing, and Lab Work

– $11.1 For Biosecurity Measures– $500,000 For Herd Management Plans

• Concerns– Protecting Producer’s Privacy– Penalties for Mandatory Reporting Violations

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GIPSA MCOOL RFS Reform Tax Reform Immigration Reform Unemployment/Minimum Wage USDOT: Hours of Service: Completed! Farm Bill Implementation:

PEDv Livestock Disaster Catastrophic Study

113th Congress: Unfinished Business

Post Farm Bill: MCOOL & GIPSA

MCOOL– June WTO

Decision– To Appeal or Not– Expanded

Coalition Base– Potential Action

End of Year

GIPSA– 2015 Approps

Language in Place– Fewer

Congressional Players

– Hopefully, Competition Fatigue

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Challenges for Comprehensive Reform in 2014:– Sen. Baucus (Senate Finance Chairman) Now Ambassador to

China– Sen. Wyden New Chair; New Priorities– Rep. Camp (House Ways & Means Chairman) Term Limited as

Chair– Last Two Major Reform Efforts (1963 & 1986) Occurred with

Strong Presidential Leadership– Release Draft Last Week

Outcome: —Not Likely Until 114th Congress—Camp Proposal To Lower Corporate & Individual Rates – Must Take

Away Popular Credits, Deductions NPPC Pushed to Exempt Pork/Farming Cash Accounting

RequiredOther Issues: 179 Deductions; Conservation Easements

Tax Reform

Questions?Chris Wall

wallc@nppc.org202-870-7253

twitter: @cwall1313