Government Affairs Insights on Floral

July 18, 2025

Senate Appropriations Advances FY26 Ag-FDA Spending Bill Out of Committee

On July 10, the full Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously (27-0) advanced their fiscal year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill, as amended. This comes after the House Appropriations advanced their Ag-FDA funding bill out of Committee on June 24 along a party line vote (35-27). The Senate appropriated $27.1 billion in total discretionary funding within the Subcommittee’s jurisdiction, around a $1.6 billion increase from the House’s $25.5 billion bill. Leading up to the markup, Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee Chair John Hoeven (R-ND) said that the Senate’s version of the agriculture funding bill would scale back some of the larger cuts that the House approved in its plan to reduce USDA's and FDA's budgets by 4%. Like that of the House’s version, the Senate also included funding for the Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative (FNRI), the USDA National Agricultural Statistic Service (NASS) Floriculture Crops Report, and Specialty Crop Mechanization. Both the House and Senate versions of the Agriculture-FDA funding bill have now been passed out of Committee but neither chamber has indicated a timeline for if/when floor consideration may take place. You can view the Senate’s Agriculture-FDA bill text here, report language here, and the adopted Manager’s Amendment here.

August 1 New Deadline for Securing Trade Deals with the U.S

On July 9, President Donald Trump’s 90-day tariff pause deadline passed after the Administration sent a whole host of letters to varying countries stating that, now starting August 1, they will be subject to new country-specific reciprocal tariffs. At the time of this writing, approximately 25 countries have received letters from the President including Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, and the Philippines to name a few. Originally, the Administration said they would be doing 90 deals in 90 days, but so far there has only been a trade truce with China, a framework outlined with the United Kingdom, and a potential deal made with Vietnam and Indonesia. Days before Jul 9, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent initially confirmed the President would be sending these letters to U.S. trading partners, asking them to continue to work with the U.S., or they will face either the pre-April 2 tariff levels or higher starting on August 1. As trade developments progress, Administration officials have said there could be some flexibility with deadlines as countries continue to negotiate. You can see the list of countries and their adjusted reciprocal tariff rates expected to take into effect August 1 here, and the corresponding Executive Order that extends the modification of the reciprocal tariff rates here.

USDA Opens Producer Application Period for the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program

On July 9, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced producers who suffered eligible crop losses in 2023 and 2024 due to natural disasters can now apply for the $16 billion in appropriated assistance through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP). USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) plans to expedite the implementation of SDRP by delivering assistance in two stages. Stage One is open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program during 2023 and 2024. This first stage of signups will start in person at FSA county offices on July 10 and prefilled applications are being mailed to producers, July 9. Stage Two signups for eligible shallow or uncovered losses will begin in early fall. For producers to be eligible, crop losses must be the result of natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and/or 2024. These disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought (D2 and above), and related conditions. You can apply or find more information at your local FSA office or at farmers.gov.

Congress Finally Clears OBBBA, President Trump Signs Bill Into Law

On July 4, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1 – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), after clearing substantial legislative and political hurdles to meet the Administration’s imposed Independence Day deadline. The reconciliation package passed by narrow margins in both the Senate and House and reflects the President Trump’s campaign pledges to eliminate wasteful and unnecessary spending, as well as restore tax deductions that were set to expire. After the Senate passed its version of the bill on July 1, the House was called back into session and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pulled off the feat of getting the majority of House Republicans to advance the bill to the President’s desk on July 3. The final version of the OBBBA included $66 billion in additional funding for and improvements to key farm bill priorities such as Title I commodities, crop insurance, disaster assistance, conservation, and animal disease prevention. Of importance to the specialty crop industry, the OBBBA increased funding for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), Specialty Crop Block Grants, Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention, as well as enhanced crop insurance and adjusted gross income limitations and bolstered funding for trade promotion programs. Those opposed to the bill criticized funding cuts and program modifications to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Further, from an agricultural-related tax perspective, the bill also expands and extends 199A deductions, restores bonus depreciation, increases Section 179 expensing, and raises the estate tax exemption level. You can find a copy of the signed into law bill text here.

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