As we reported to you yesterday, the Senate passed its version of the Food Safety bill, including the Tester-Hagan amendment, by a margin of 73 to 25. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) had previously agreed to accept the Senate’s bill in place of the House’s version (which had been approved last summer), making it likely that the bill would pass the House without changes and move on for the President's signature.
But new questions have arisen about the revenue-raising (i.e. taxing) provisions in Section 107 of the Senate bill. The Constitution requires that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. Because the Senate violated the funding origination clause, the House may use a procedure known as “blue slipping,” which would send the bill back to the Senate to remove the revenue raising provisions or to pass a bill that had originated in the House. This opens the door for changes to be made to the bill, as well as increasing the chances that the bill dies because Congress runs out of time in the lame duck session.
Stay tuned for more information!