I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8274 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Dairy Pricing and 

Policy Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 

Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Dairy 

Pricing and Policy Commission, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dairy Pricing and Pol5 icy Commission Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DAIRY PRICING AND POLICY COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 

8 the date on which funds are first made available to carry 

9 out this section, the Secretary shall establish a commission 


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1 to be known as the ‘‘Dairy Pricing and Policy Commis2 sion’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

3 (b) STUDY BY COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 

4 conduct, with respect to the 10-year period ending on the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, a comprehensive study 

6 of the following: 

7 (1) Decreasing real values of dairy farmer milk 

8 prices and income. 

9 (2) Economic and policy causes for the declin10 ing number of small and medium sized dairy oper11 ations. 

12 (3) Levels of milk production in the United 

13 States with regional changes in farm numbers, cow 

14 numbers, and milk production per cow. 

15 (4) Opportunities and challenges for increasing 

16 domestic and export demand for dairy products. 

17 (5) The effects of declining dairy farm numbers 

18 on rural economies. 

19 (6) Causes for the consolidation within the 

20 dairy industry. 

21 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In conducting the study 

22 pursuant to subsection (b), the Commission shall develop 

23 legislative, regulatory, and market-based recommendations 

24 for the following: 


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1 (1) Responding to periods of heightened dairy 

2 production during low prices by considering better 

3 supply chain coordination and market price signals. 

4 (2) Enhancing the competitiveness of American 

5 dairy producers and dairy products in world mar6 kets. 

7 (3) Evaluating and identifying challenges and 

8 opportunities for new markets for dairy exports. 

9 (4) Ensuring that Federal Milk Marketing Or10 ders (FMMO) and FMMO rulemakings are trans11 parent and provide a fair return to producers re12 gardless of the end product for which their milk is 

13 used. 

14 (5) Ensuring that the competitiveness of dairy 

15 products with other competing products in the mar16 ketplace is preserved and enhanced. 

17 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

18 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com19 mission shall be composed of 18 members appointed 

20 by the Secretary as follows: 

21 (A) At least 1 member representing a na22 tional consumer organization. 

23 (B) At least 3 members representing land24 grant colleges and universities or covered 


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1 NLGCA Institutions, with at least two of such 

2 members having expertise in economics. 

3 (C) At least 1 member representing the 

4 food and beverage retail sector. 

5 (D) Six dairy producers representing a va6 riety of farming practices and sizes and 3 dairy 

7 processors, appointed so as to balance geo8 graphical distribution of milk production and 

9 dairy processing, reflect major product seg10 ments of dairy processing, and represent all re11 gions of the United States equitably, including 

12 States that operate outside of a Federal Milk 

13 Marketing Order. 

14 (E) At least 2 members shall represent 

15 dairy farmer, cooperative, or dairy processor, 

16 associations. 

17 (F) At least 2 members shall represent 

18 dairy industry experts in the field of milk pric19 ing, finance, marketing, risk management, con20 sulting, or advisory services (or some combina21 tion thereof). 

22 (2) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed 

23 for the duration of the Commission. 


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1 (3) VACANCY.—Any vacancy occurring before 

2 the termination of the Commission shall be filled in 

3 the same manner as the original appointment. 

4 (4) PAY.—Members shall serve without pay, but 

5 shall be entitled to receive a reimbursement from the 

6 Secretary from existing budget authority for reason7 able expenses necessary to carry out the duties of 

8 the Commission. 

9 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—The members shall elect a 

10 member to serve as Chairperson of the Commission 

11 for the duration of the Commission. 

12 (6) VOTING.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission is 

14 unable to reach a consensus on a proposed rec15 ommendation or determination, the Commission 

16 may decide the matter by majority vote of its 

17 members. 

18 (B) TIE VOTES.—The Chairperson of the 

19 Commission, in addition to voting, may also 

20 break any tie vote. 

21 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Sec22 retary shall provide to the Commission the administrative 

23 support services necessary for the Commission to carry out 

24 the requirements under this section. 

25 (f) REPORT.— 


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1 (1) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than 2 

2 years after the date of the first meeting of the Com3 mission, the Commission shall submit to the Sec4 retary and Congress a report containing the results 

5 of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (b), 

6 including the legislative and regulatory recommenda7 tions developed pursuant to subsection (c). 

8 (2) OPINIONS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), the report shall reflect, to the extent 

11 practicable, a consensus opinion of the mem12 bers. 

13 (B) EXCEPTION.—If the members did not 

14 reach a consensus opinion with respect to a 

15 matter, the report may include majority and 

16 minority findings regarding such matter. 

17 (g) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Section 

18 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

19 U.S.C. App.; relating to the termination of advisory com20 mittees) shall not apply to the Commission. 

21 (h) ADVISORY NATURE.—The Commission is wholly 

22 advisory in nature, and the recommendations of the Com23 mission are nonbinding. 

24 (i) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Sec25 retary shall not allow the existence of the Commission to 


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1 impede, delay, or otherwise affect any decision-making 

2 process of the Department of Agriculture, including any 

3 rulemaking procedures planned, proposed, or near comple4 tion. 

5 (j) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

6 shall provide administrative support to the Commission, 

7 and expend to carry out this section such funds as nec8 essary from budget authority available to the Secretary. 

9 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated $50,000 to carry out this 

11 section. 

12 (l) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

13 on the earlier of the following: 

14 (1) The date of the submission of the report 

15 pursuant to subsection (f). 

16 (2) The date that is 2 years after the date of 

17 the first meeting of the Commission. 

18 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) COVERED NLGCA INSTITUTION.—The term 

20 ‘‘covered NLGCA Institution’’ means an institution 

21 that— 

22 (A) is an NLGCA Institution; and 

23 (B) offers an accredited dairy economic 

24 program. 


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1 (2) FEDERAL MILK MARKETING ORDER.—The 

2 term ‘‘Federal milk marketing order’’ means a Fed3 eral milk marketing order issued under section 8c of 

4 the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608c), 

5 reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural 

6 Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. 

7 (3) LAND-GRANT COLLEGES AND UNIVER8 SITIES.—The term ‘‘land-grant colleges and univer9 sities’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

10 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Exten11 sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 

12 3103). 

13 (4) NLGCA INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘NLGCA 

14 Institution’’ has the meaning given such term in sec15 tion 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, 

16 Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 

17 U.S.C. 3103). 

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

Æ 


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