Congress clarifies: processed dates now fall under federal marketing orders
H.R. 8152 — To amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act with respect to the treatment of dates for processing under certain marketing orders. · Filed by Raul Ruiz (D-CA) · Introduced Mar 27, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act to clarify that 'dates for processing' are explicitly included in the definition of dates subject to federal marketing orders. It removes language that previously carved out dates for processing from those orders, bringing processed dates under the same regulatory framework as fresh dates.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a narrow technical amendment to clarify regulatory scope within an existing agricultural marketing framework. It does not create new authority or programs, only removes a carve-out to bring a product category into existing federal oversight.
What the text implies
- Date processors may face new compliance obligations under federal marketing orders, including potential price-floor or volume-control requirements, depending on how the Secretary of Agriculture implements the orders.
- The amendment could affect the competitive dynamics of the date-processing industry if marketing orders impose uniform pricing or quality standards that favor larger processors with compliance infrastructure.
- Consumers purchasing processed dates (paste, syrup, dried products) may see price or availability changes if marketing orders restrict supply or standardize pricing.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Consumers may benefit from standardized quality and pricing controls on processed dates, but the bill also potentially increases compliance costs for date processors, which may be passed to consumers or reduce market competition. The net effect depends on how aggressively marketing orders are enforced and whether they stabilize or inflate prices.
Who stands to gain
- date processors compliant with federal standards (potential market stabilization)
- fresh-date producers (if marketing orders reduce competition from processed-date alternatives)
Named in the bill
Agricultural Adjustment Act, Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, Section 8e(a), U.S. Department of Agriculture, date processors, date producers
Where it stands
- Mar 27, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 27, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $370,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Raul Ruiz, the sponsor, reported $1,028,105 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Tnc (us) Holdings Inc — $130,000 on 1 filing
- Computer & Communications Industry Association — $80,000 on 1 filing
- Oracle America, Inc. — $60,000 on 1 filing
- Directv — $50,000 on 1 filing
- Sap America, Inc. — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (340 characters) on Apr 14, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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