WASHINGTON — Immigration reform and child nutrition legislation top the congressional agenda for the produce industry, but it’s far from clear how the newly minted Congress will handle these issues in 2015.

Congress returned to Capitol Hill Jan. 6, re-elected Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) as speaker of the House of Representatives, and began discussing legislative priorities. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the new Senate majority leader, took the reins and announced legislation authorizing the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline will be the first bill to reach the floor for a vote this month.

Dennis Nuxoll, vice president of federal government affairs for Western Growers Association, said that there is a raft of issues before Congress and the federal agencies that will affect produce companies.

Immigration reform will come back up in response to President Obama’s announcement to make changes through executive order, but it’s a little unclear how Congress will react, sources said.

“Something will happen,” Nuxoll said, referring to the need for Congress to revisit the Department of Homeland Security budget by March. Congress could press for individual bills that range from shutting the border down, overturning the executive order to advocating for AgJobs-like legislation.

“First, the Republican caucus needs to decide what they will do,” Nuxoll added.

Reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act is another priority, and last year’s compromise on the school lunch program means Congress needs to “move on” and pass the legislation by the end of September, said Robert Guenther,  senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association. It’s still unclear how the new GOP-controlled Congress will tackle child nutrition, however.

Other nutrition issues United Fresh will be monitoring are the implementation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the farm bill’s specialty crop block grant, insurance and research programs and a pilot under the Fruit & Vegetable Snack Program.  

For WGA, water issues remain prominent due to the three-year drought in California, and there’s hope the new Congress will revisit an emergency drought relief bill, which did not pass the Senate last year.

“Our number one issue is labor and we’re always looking for water opportunities,” Nuxoll said, adding that other upcoming issues include corporate tax reform, highway reform legislation, health care fixes and trade bills.

Both groups view the Food & Drug Administration’s interpretation of the Food Safety Modernization Act as a top priority off Capitol Hill.

The FDA is under a court order to roll out final FSMA rules later this year, and although FDA changed some of the proposed rules last fall and collected more comment, the industry is looking for much more flexibility in the final versions. FDA must publish final preventive controls for human and animal food by August and final import and produce rules by October.

“We welcome opportunities to improve the rules to enhance public health” and make the rules more workable for the produce industry, Guenther said. He suggested the agency could issue interim final rules to meet the court deadlines and allow more time to get the rules right.

Another regulatory issue is at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where Guenther says there is frustration within the industry that the administration is focusing more attention on changing fruit and vegetable import regulations and less on helping exporters.

WGA is also hoping Congress gets involved in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation defining the waters protected under the Clean Water Act.

“That’s a major interest for us,” said Nuxoll.

WGA has asked the federal government to withdraw the proposed rules and start the process over. “Can Congress get the administration to reconsider?” he wondered.