EINNEWS, December 2— Food safety legislation that seemed to have a clear path to President Obama’s desk and the law books has run into what could be a major obstacle.
House Democrats discovered Wednesday that as passed by the Senate the bill contains fees that are considered tax provisions. Under congressional rules, only the House can originate taxes.
If no way is found around the technical impasse, both the House and Senate will be required to vote again on the measure. While it received strong bi-partisan support in both houses, Senate Republicans have erected a blockade against all Senate action unless all Bush era tax cuts are extended.
Food safety legislation passed the Senate 73-25 on Tuesday. The House version was passed in August, 2009.
While there is widespread support for the measure in the Senate, Democrats were required to hold a string of procedural votes to override a filibuster and other delaying tactics by the opposition.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said the House may try to proceed by adding the food safety legislation to another bill and sending it to the Senate. Read more about the Food Safety Modernization Act at http://foodsafety.einnews.com/news/food-safety-modernization-act.
For more food safety news, visit Food Safety News Today (http://foodsafety.einnews.com), a food safety media monitoring service from EIN News.
