The House passed a standalone bill Wednesday to allow year-round sales of E15 ethanol, a major win for corn growers after the bill was removed from the first farm bill to pass the House since 2018.
The standalone bill passed 218-203, despite a fault line within the Republican conference — Corn Belt lawmakers against oil-state members in the South — with 95 Democrats voting in support. The Environmental Protection Agency has allowed the sale of E15 gas during the summer months every year since 2011. E15 is generally cheaper for consumers, but produces more smog.
Farmers and lawmakers from corn-producing states have pushed for year-round E15 sales to create more demand and raise corn prices.
“Washington already recognizes that this policy makes sense,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Iowa, said on the House floor. “Year-round E15 provides farmers the certainty they’ve been asking for.”
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But new research released Tuesday by the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute complicated the ethanol industry’s case that E15 is a straightforward win for agriculture. The institute’s director, Seth Meyer, said a study found that E15 expansion alone would offer corn farmers only modest near-term gains — roughly 14 cents per bushel by 2035. The report also projected significant losses for soybean growers.
The bill’s passage occurs at a difficult moment for farm country. The current extension of the 2018 farm bill expires Sept. 30. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman said he intends to move a draft for a new farm bill before the end of May.
Wednesday’s vote will help the E15 measure’s chances of being included in the Senate version of the farm bill, but year-round sales still face an uphill battle in the chamber. Senators from corn-producing states will be encouraged by the win on the House side, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who is a vocal advocate of the policy.
The House E15 bill was left up to member preferences, with House Speaker Mike Johnson telling his conference that leadership would not whip votes.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, announced his opposition to the bill before the vote Wednesday, while Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota announced his support for it.
“I just think we ought to be going about this a different way,” Texas Rep. Chip Roy said on the House floor. “If we need to do something to support farmers, let’s have a direct conversation about it.”
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