Washington, DC – The Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Alliance applauds the bipartisan introduction of H.R. 9263, the Supporting Innovation in Agriculture Act, in the U.S. House of Representatives by Ways & Means Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA-16) and Ranking Member Mike Thompson (D-CA-04) along with Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), David Valadao (R-CA-22), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), Max Miller (R-OH-07), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-07) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02).
The Supporting Innovation in Agriculture Act aims to create a new federal investment tax credit (ITC) to support the deployment of CEA technologies and precision agriculture technologies for specialty crop growers.
“The CEA Alliance applauds Chairman Mike Kelly, Ranking Member Mike Thompson and Representatives Wenstrup, Evans, Valadao, Panetta, Miller, and Slotkin for introducing the Supporting Innovation in Agriculture Act,” said Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of the CEA Alliance. “The Supporting Innovation in Agriculture Act fills an important policy gap for the diverse domestic specialty crop industry and will ensure that producers can leverage innovative technologies to grow more with less.”
“The federal government has a critical role to play in ensuring our nation’s food security and fostering agricultural innovation,” said Colin O’Neil, Chair of the CEA Alliance’s Public Policy Working Group and Senior Director of Public Policy & Social Impact for Bowery. “In the years to come, we’ll look back on this bill as a crucial turning point in making our fresh food supply chains more resilient and sustainable. Congress must act now to pass this bill.”
The bill has garnered the support from over 50 prominent farm groups and trade associations across the country, including the International Fresh Produce Association, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the CEA Alliance and the Food Industry Association (FMI), among others.
In addition, 27 heads of state departments of agriculture joined a letter in support of the legislation representing Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Carolina , Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia and Wyoming.
More about the bill can be found here: https://kelly.house.gov/media/press-releases/kelly-thompson-lead-introduction-supporting-innovation-agriculture-act
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance (CEA Alliance) is a membership trade association representing and serving vertical farms and greenhouse producers growing fruits and vegetables in a highly controlled indoor production environment. For more information, please contact Tom Stenzel, Executive Director, at Tom@CEAAlliance.com.
