BACKING FTC: Lawmakers are voicing support for the Federal Trade Commission’s bid to stop a proposed $25 billion grocery megamerger in a new friend-of-the-court brief. “The proposed merger is part of an alarming trend toward consolidation in the supermarket industry,” write a group of 28 Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), in support of the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would temporarily halt the merger. FTC lawyers have argued that the deal, which would combine leading grocery retailers Kroger and Albertsons, would raise prices, depress workers’ wages and cut down on consumers’ choices. The arguments: The lawmakers are especially concerned about the proposed merger’s impact on workers. “The merger will increase Kroger’s and Albertsons’ market power specifically over unionized workers … in part, because the wages and working conditions of non-union employees are largely irrelevant to the bargaining dynamics between union workers and their employers,” they write. “Simply put, a non-union grocery job is not a reasonable alternative to a union grocery job.” As part of its case, the FTC and states are claiming the deal would negatively impact union workers at the stores. The companies have said that the merger would enable them to lower consumer prices and they have proposed selling nearly 600 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, which is largely a supplier to independent stores, in order to preserve competition within regional markets. FARM BILL PRICE TAG: The Congressional Budget Office released an updated cost estimate for the House’s farm bill Friday, largely unchanged from previous scores but setting off a new round of partisan bickering over the stalled negotiations. The House Ag Committee’s farm bill, which the panel advanced in May, would include nearly $33 billion in deficit spending over 10 years, per the updated estimate. “Today’s score from CBO shows once again that the House Republican proposal is not paid for and relies on magic math and wishful thinking,” Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said in a statement. House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) said the new score shows “there is still more to be done to make certain the bill—one that has been consistently praised by those across the agriculture value chain—can be brought across the finish line.” Thompson said he’ll work with CBO to clarify what he said is an “underestimate” of spending that his bill would cut. Vibe check: Lawmakers have privately signaled for months that the legislation will either be passed during the lame duck session or pushed into 2025. Some are publicly souring on any hope to wrap up the debate before the election, especially as they headed home for a long August break. “I think, right now, we’ll be pushed into the lame duck,” Senate Ag ranking member John Boozman (R-Ark.) said in a brief interview last week before lawmakers left. “I understand how important it is to give our farmers certainty, that’s what they desperately need. On the other hand, we're not going to do something just to do something.” Senate Ag member Peter Welch (D-Vt.) told MA last week he felt “anxious” about the farm bill’s timeline as constituents have been pressing for the reauthorization: “They just need us to get our jobs done.”
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