Food Safety Legislation Hits a Roadblock

By Ricardo Carvajal

No sooner had we blogged on Senate passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act than Roll Call reported that the bill might be doomed by a constitutional flaw – namely that § 107 of the bill proposes fees, and Article I, section 7 of the U.S. Constitution states that “all bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” The procedural complications that this flaw gives rise to, coupled with the rapidly approaching close of this Congress, could push further consideration of food safety legislation into the next Congress.