Written by: Amie Alexander, JD/MPS Candidate, William H. Bowen School of Law

The Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports (CREAATE) Act (S.1839) is a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana), and Susan Collins (R-Maine) that aims to increase funding for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s export promotion programs, the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program. These programs are public-private partnerships to promote agriculture. Export promotion programs like MAP and FMD are responsible for 15 percent of U.S. agricultural export revenue, totaling at $309 billion since 1977.

Supporters of the act stress compelling reasons for the increased funding such as increased inflation, administrative costs, global marketplace growth, and competition with other exporting countries. Between 1977 and 2014, USDA export programs have added $8.15 billion per year to the value of U.S. agricultural exports, a net return of $28.30 for every dollar invested. Funding for MAP and FMD has not been increased since the 2002 Farm Bill.

The CREAATE Act’s full text has not yet been released, but will be forthcoming here. The House of Representatives introduced similar legislation in May, which can be accessed here.