A bill to amend section 103(f) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 in order to establish a minimum loan rate for the 1980 and 1981 crops of upland cotton, a diversion program for the 1979 crop of upland cotton, and a waiver of certain cross-compliance requirements for disaster payments for the 1978 crop of upland cotton.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Agriculture.
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to establish the crop production loan level for the 1980 and 1981 crops of upland cotton at not less than the loan level established for the 1979 crop. Makes eligible for 1978 crop disaster payments certain cotton producers who where otherwise eligible for such payments, but who were deemed ineligible for failure to comply with the set-aside requirement of the 1978 crop feed grain program. Conditions such special eligibility on a determination that any such producer planted his 1978 crop of feed grains prior to the official announcement of the 1978 set-aside requirement and notice that eligibility for 1978 crop cotton payments and loans would be conditioned on compliance with such set-aside requirement. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make available a voluntary diversion program for the 1979 crop of upland cotton of payments for the reduction of cotton acreage by not less than ten percent nor more than 20 percent of the 1978 cotton acreage considered planted on the farm (including diverted acreage).
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 9, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 9, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Agriculture.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
DAVID BOWEN (D-MS) introduced it on April 9, 1979, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 9, 1979, 17321 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17321 days ago, on April 9, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers