House to vote on E15 today

The House is scheduled to vote today on H.R. 1346, the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 — the bill that would legalize the sale of E15 fuel nationwide and year round, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said in a daily schedule announcement late Tuesday.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb. Smith said at a rally at the House Triangle on Tuesday that the bill would be the same as the one that was considered by the House Rules Committee last week when the committee was writing a rule for consideration of the farm bill.

There have been rumors that Republicans would engage in negotiations with members from districts that are home to small and medium-sized refiners who oppose the bill, but Smith said no changes have been made.

“There’s been a bit of a smear campaign” against the bill, Smith said, noting E15 is not a mandate but a choice. Supporters emphasized that the bill would provide certainty to retailers so that they would install the pumps to make E15 available to consumers.

At the rally, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., a member of the House Rules Committee, said rules would meet late Tuesday to separate the bill from the farm bill so that it could be considered alone.

It is unclear if there are enough votes to pass the bill. At the rally, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., and Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, urged Democrats to support it.

Brown said the bill is an opportunity for rural and urban members of the House to “rebuild” the coalition that used to pass farm bills.

After the rally, Brown told The Hagstrom Report, “We’re moving the needle. It is a matter of education.”

National Corn Growers Association President Jed Bower, an Ohio producer, said the bill would increase demand for corn and “bring back true growth in rural America.”

The Congressional Budget Office released a report explaining the budgetary impact of the bill.