WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal amendment to the Continuing Resolution has ended political wrangling over a proposed furlough of meat inspectors.

“I’m very pleased the Senate unanimously passed this important amendment, which will help protect every family from paying higher food costs, and ensure hardworking Americans who make a living at these food inspection facilities don’t see their wages cut,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

The amendment, approved in the Senate March 20, was co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.). The amendment was then included as part of H.R. 933, passed by the House March 21.

The proposed furlough as a result of federal sequester cuts had been criticized by the meat industry and legislators, such as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

“It seems pretty clear that the Department of Agriculture is not doing everything possible to avoid something as drastic as furloughing meat and poultry product inspectors, and has failed to follow the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) directive on the sequester, which unfortunately made this amendment necessary,” said Grassley, after the amendment passed the Senate.

In a March 8 letter to Grassley, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said he did not have legal authority to transfer funds from other mission areas to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), stating there were “no exceptions in the applicable statutes that would exempt FSIS inspection activities from sequestration.”

Vilsack’s position on the inspector furloughs had been questioned by both Republican lawmakers and the National Beef Cattleman’s Assoc. (NCBA). “Had inspection been halted, this would have resulted in a backlog of animals, shortened supply of beef to market, higher prices and harm to the futures markets,” said Scott George, NCBA president. “By the Secretary’s own estimates, this would have equated to $10 billion in production losses and $400 million in lost wages, only compounding the issues faced by ranchers dealing with the worst drought in 50 years.”

The NCBA, and the National Chicken Council, issued statements commending the amendment’s passage.

It gives the USDA flexibility to shift funds, from elsewhere in the agency to the FSIS, to ensure food safety inspections continue. Lauded as a bipartisan solution, the Pryor-Blunt amendment transfers $55 million in existing agriculture funds to FSIS to ensure food inspectors are not furloughed.

Blunt said it added no extra cost to the bill, moving one-time funding for school equipment grants and deferred maintenance on buildings and facilities at USDA.

Elisabeth Hagen, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, told the Senate on March 13 the FSIS would face a projected reduction of $52.8 million under the Continuing Resolution. “Therefore, the current plan is for an across-the-board furlough for all employees for 11 days,” she testified. “Also, in order to minimize the impact on our employees, consumers and industry, it is our intention to apply the furloughs on non-consecutive days to the maximum extent possible based on available time remaining in the fiscal year.”

In the House, the amendment avoiding meat inspector furloughs was included in H.R. 933, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013. “I’m proud that we were able to reach across the aisle – and across Capitol Hill – to produce a meaningful, bipartisan bill that funds the government responsibly,” said House Appropriations Committee Chair Hal Rogers (R-Ky.).