Chris Wall, National Pork Producers Council, 2014 Pork Management Conference, June 17-20 in Tampa, Florida.

1. National Pork Board
Pork Management Conference
Washington Policy
Update
June 2014
Chris Wall
NPPC Assistant Vice President, Public Policy

2. 2
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

3. 3
 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 27Years
 FY2015 Appropriations Should Be More Regular Order
– No Government Shutdown Expected
Budget

4. 4
 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 trillion
FY 2013 Outlays $3.45 trillion
$680 billionDeficit 
The FY2013 Federal Budget

5. 5
 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

6. 6
 March Special Election Tampa Bay Area:
 Jolly (R) 48.4% vs. Sink (D) 46.6%
 Half TheVoters 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

7. 7
Operation 218

8. 8
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

9. 9
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

10. 10
Operation 218

11. 11
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

12. 12
 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

13. 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

14. 14
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 – MustTake
Away Popular Credits, Deductions
 NPPC Pushed to Exempt Pork/Farming Cash Accounting Required
Other Issues: 179 Deductions; Conservation Easements
Tax Reform

15. Questions?
Chris Wall
wallc@nppc.org
202-870-7253
twitter: @cwall1313