Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas said his genetically modified food labeling bill is not ready. Roberts hopes his bill will be bipartisan, but he said what he introduces will be “a chairman’s mark” that can be amended. Roberts, along with the committee’s ranking Democrat Debbie Stabenow, have been attempting to write bills that would stop state laws from mandating labeling of foods containing GMO ingredients. The first of which is scheduled to take effect in Vermont this July. He added that he thinks action must come quickly because the death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia and the conflict between Republicans and Democrats over whether a new justice should be brought up for confirmation before the election “will make it tougher and tougher down the road” to pass legislation on a bipartisan basis this year.

USDA has proposed a rule designed to provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants increased access to healthy foods by requiring stores that accept SNAP to stock a wider array of food choices. The proposed rule would require SNAP-authorized retailers to offer a larger inventory and variety of healthy food options.

More From 92.9 The Bull