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1977 Food and Agricultural Policy: The Political Setting in Washington

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

J. B. Penn*
Affiliation:
Agricultural Policy Analysis, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Extract

The development of new food and agricultural legislation in 1977 has been subject to a number of constraints almost from the outset. First, the 95th Congress decided, after earlier trial use, to use the new budget process “in earnest” this session. This mandated that committees have bills reported to their respective bodies by May 15. Second, the President very early issued guidelines as to the levels of acceptable Federal outlays for programs in the bills — more expensive ones faced the strong threat of veto. Third, it was widely recognized that the basic or permanent legislation which comes in force if new legislation is not enacted would be virtually unworkable in today's economy. This provided further incentive for development of legislation acceptable to both branches. The Congress thus had to develop new legislation in a very short period to meet the new budget schedule, avoid writing a bill certain to be vetoed, and rush to complete action on the bill before the month-long August recess to avoid having the permanent legislation become operative.

Type
1977 Food and Agricultural Policy – Impcat on the Northeast
Copyright
Copyright © Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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Footnotes

This paper was revised in late July to reflect developments subsequent to the Northeast Agricultural Economics Council meetings in late June. The views expressed are those of the author and may not reflect official positions of the Department of Agriculture.

References

1. House Committee on Agriculture, Report on the Agricultural Act of 1977, Print 95–348, U.S. House of Representatives, May 16, 1977.Google Scholar
2. Penn, J. B. and Brown, W. H., Impacts of Reverting to Basic Legislation when the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 and Rice Production Act of 1975 Expire, ERS-641, ERS, U. S. Department of Agriculture, August, 1976.Google Scholar
3. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Report on the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, Print 95–100, U. S. Senate, May 16, 1977.Google Scholar
4. Stucker, T. A., Penn, J. B., and Knutson, R. D., “Agriculture-Food Policymaking: Process and Participants,” Agricultural-Food Policy Review, AFPR-1, APA/ERS, U. S. Department of Agriculture, January 1977.Google Scholar
5. USDA and Agricultural-Food Policymaking, report of the USDA's 1976 Young Executives Committee, U. S. Department of Agriculture, January 1977.Google Scholar
6. Walter, Alan S., “Impacts of the Congressional Budget Process on Agricultural and Food Legislation,” Agricultural-Food Policy Review, AFPR-2, APA/ERS, U. S. Department of Agriculture (forthcoming).Google Scholar