Rogers / 3 Senator Lioanag

S.W._____

A BILL
To tax all food production companies in order to provide funds for the Food Safety Modernization Act.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Food Production Company Tax Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
A) Funding for the Food Safety Modernization Act is more than 276 million dollars behind where it needs to be.
B) Each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of
foodborne diseases.
C) 33 million Americans do not have health insurance.
D) The Congressional Budget Office reported that the fees would not cover the cost of the new system, leaving the
FDA to incur a net cost of 2.2 billion dollars over five years.
E) As processing plants have become larger, they handle larger volumes of productssometimes from many
different sourcesand distribute them over a broader geographic area. This can increase the risk of widespread
exposure to contaminated products.
F) Foodborne illnesses are annually costing the economy more than 15.6 billion dollars.
G) The prevailing argument against governments getting out of the inspection game is that private companies,
concerned more with bottom lines than customers health, will do little inspection or may even, if they have
something to hide, fudge test results
H) The overall number of facilities inspected decreased from just over 17,000 facilities in 2004 to about 15,900 in
2009.
I) In fiscal year (FY) 2009, 59 percent of FDAs food inspections were conducted by State inspectors.
J) In 2013, 818 foodborne disease outbreaks were reported.
K) In eight States, FDA failed to ensure that the required number of inspections was completed.
L) The Food Safety Modernization Act enables FDA to better protect public health by strengthening the food safety
system.
M) One reason FDA relies on states is that these inspections are conducted under state regulatory authority, which
often exceeds FDA's own authority.
N) The Current Population Survey shows that the percentage of people with health insurance for all or part of 2014
was 89.6 percent.
O) The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 4, enables FDA
to better protect public health by strengthening the food safety system.
P) FDA must establish science-based, minimum standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and
vegetables. Those standards must consider naturally occurring hazards, as well as those that may be introduced
either unintentionally or intentionally, and must address soil amendments (materials added to the soil such as
compost), hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animals in the growing area and water.
Q) FDA has authority to withdraw an exemption from a farm or facility associated with a foodborne illness outbreak.
R) Food facilities are required to implement a written preventive controls plan.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) This bill shall establish an annual tax of .05 percent of yearly earnings that shall be paid by all food production
companies. The money shall go to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who shall use the money to fund for the
Food Safety Modernization Act. The FDA shall use these funds to regulate food production, with the stipulation that
the funds shall be earmarked solely for food safety initiatives.
B) The FDA is the administering agency and the IRS is the enforcing agency of the federal government.
C) This bill shall be enacted on January 1, 2017.