A bill to amend the perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Amendments.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Agriculture.
Amends the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, to include in the definition of "dealer" any person engaged in the business of packing in wholesale or jobbing quantities any perishable agricultural commodity in interstate or foreign commerce. Excludes from such definition: (1) any producer who raises a commodity and does not engage in the packing of such commodity in containers with specified descriptive markings; and (2) buyers of potatoes for canning and/or processing within the State where grown. Lowers from $200,000 to $100,000 the amount of the invoice cost of purchases of perishable agricultural commodities in any calendar year which a retailer may spend without being considered a "dealer". Requires that specified misrepresentations be knowing or negligent in order to be unlawful under this Act. Declares unlawful specified unwitting misrepresentations. Includes the assignees of the claims of nonresidents among those complainants required to furnish a bond in a specified amount before formal action is taken on their complaints under such Act. Terminates the authority of the Secretary to waive the furnishing of such bonds by complainants who are residents of countries which permit the filing of complaints by U.S. residents without the furnishing of a bond. Authorizes the Secretary to impose a civil fine for specified unwitting misrepresentations under such Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on December 12, 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 December 12, 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?
LEON PANETTA (D-CA) introduced it on December 12, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 December 12, 1979, 17121 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17121 days ago, on December 12, 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