# Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2025 - Plain Language Summary

## What This Bill Does

This bill aims to help small and very small meat and poultry processing businesses comply with federal food safety regulations and expand their operations. It makes three main changes: (1) requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create free online resources to help smaller processors develop food safety plans, (2) increases federal funding for state meat and poultry inspection programs from 50% to 65%, and (3) expands a program that allows smaller processors to ship products across state lines by doubling the employee threshold from 25 to 50 employees and increasing the percentage of products they can sell interstate from 60% to 80%.

## Who Benefits

Small and very small meat and poultry processors would be the primary beneficiaries. These include local butcher shops, family farms, and regional processing facilities that currently struggle with the complexity and cost of federal food safety requirements. States that run their own meat inspection programs would also benefit from increased federal funding. Consumers may benefit from increased access to locally-processed meat and poultry products.

## Key Changes

- **New Resources**: The USDA must create a searchable database of food safety studies and publish template food safety plans tailored to different types of small processors (slaughter-only, processing-only, or both) within 18-24 months
- **More Federal Funding**: State inspection programs receive a 15-percentage-point increase in federal cost-sharing (from 50% to 65%)
- **Expanded Interstate Sales**: Small processors can now grow to 50 employees (up from 25) and sell up to 80% of their products across state lines (up from 60%), making it easier for local businesses to reach wider markets

Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2025

Thune, John

Strengthening Local Processing Act of 2025This bill revises provisions related to meat and poultry processing establishments, including by establishing grants and a database&nbsp;to assist smaller establishments (i.e., at least 10 but fewer than 500 employees) and very small establishments (i.e., fewer than 10 employees or annual sales of less than $2.5 million).For example, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) must establish a searchable database of peer-reviewed validation studies for use in developing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points plans for smaller and very small establishments.The bill increases the maximum federal cost shares for (1) state meat and poultry inspection programs (from 50% to 65%), and (2) the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program (from 60% to 80%).&nbsp;The CIS program allows state-inspected facilities to operate as federally-inspected facilities and ship their products in interstate commerce and internationally.Additionally, USDA must conduct outreach to states that have meat and poultry inspection programs, but do not participate in the CIS program. The bill also allows certain establishments with up to 50 employees (currently up to 25 employees) to participate in the program.&nbsp;USDA must also award grants to increase resiliency and diversification of the meat processing system, including activities that support (1) the health and safety of meat and poultry plant employees, suppliers, and customers; (2) increased processing capacity; and (3) the resilience of the small meat and poultry processing sector.Further, the bill establishes a grant program for meat and poultry processing career training programs,&nbsp;including structured apprenticeships.