Senate farm bill expected to pass, debate on immigrant bill to return

Jun 10, 2013

Senate farm bill expected to pass, debate on immigrant bill to return

The U.S. Senate is due to vote on its five-year $94 billion farm bill Monday night. The legislation is likely to pass with bipartisan support.

The farm bill is almost identical to the legislation passed last year, with the major difference being a target price assistance program for Southern rice and peanut farmers.

The House version of the farm bill is expected to come in two weeks (June 17). If the bill passes the house floor, it will take strong bipartisan support from the Senate and the House to the President before the extension of the farm bill expires this fall (Sept. 30). Both bills would end direct payments to farmers, while expending insurance offerings. The most continuous point is over food stamp funding better known as SNAP. The Senate version would cut $400 million a year while the House version would cut $2 billion a year.

Once the farm bill passes, the Senate is scheduled to resume debate on its controversial immigration bill.

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.