Newhouse Rolls Out ‘Protect Farmers From The SEC Act’

On Thursday, alongside more than 80 of his House colleagues, Congressman Dan Newhouse introduced the Protect Farmers from the SEC Act.

Newhouse said the legislation is in direct response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed climate disclosure rule, “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors”, a rule he says would effectively force publicly traded companies to require small, independent, family farms to report on-farm data regarding individual operations and day-to-day activities.  Newhouse added such requirements would hinder the ability of American farmers and ranchers to compete in global markets and creating onerous compliance requirements for operations with few or no employees.

The Protect Farmers from the SEC Act would prohibit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring an issuer of securities to disclose greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from upstream and downstream activities in the issuer’s value chain arising from farms and ranches.

"Farmers in Central Washington and across the country are struggling due to overreaching regulations, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and skyrocketing inflation. Imposing even more regulations on the men and women who produce the food for our families would be devastating at any time, but it may well cripple the entire industry when food prices are already at a 40-year high,” Newhouse noted.  “The SEC’s proposed climate rules are a major government overreach and would make it nearly impossible for farmers to continue to farm the way they do, keeping sustainability and conservation in mind.  I am proud to stand up for our nation's farmers, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and ensure U.S. farmers and ranchers can continue to survive and thrive.”

The Protect Farmers from the SEC Act is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cotton Council, National Pork Producers Council, USA Rice, American Sugar Alliance, American Soybean Association, National Potato Council, United States Cattlemen’s Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Agricultural Retailers Association, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, and the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association.

You can read the full text of the Protect Farmers from the SEC Act Here. 
 

Background:

Specifically, the Protect Farmers from the SEC Act: 

• Prohibits the SEC from requiring an issuer of securities to disclose greenhouse gas emissions from upstream and downstream activities in the issuer’s value chain arising from a farm 
• Defines the production, manufacturing, or harvesting of an agricultural product through the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, outlines upstream and downstream activities, and defines greenhouse gases 
• Removes the SEC’s exemptive authority in relation to this Act

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