By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Kellie Adesina earned her juris doctor degree from The Ohio State University in 2006, she had no idea a career tied to agriculture was in her future.

Adesina was named chief counsel for the U.S. House Agriculture Committee earlier this year by Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.). The New Jersey native had been a senior counselor on the committee since 2016. She’s also a former senior counselor at the USDA, having served as chief of staff to the general counsel.

“Absolutely not. I never thought I would be working in agriculture,” she said recently. “It never entered my mind. I knew I wanted a law degree because it allows you to get into a lot of industries. It gives you certain skills. I also knew I didn’t want to practice law in the traditional sense. But I didn’t know much else.”

In her new job, Adesina has several responsibilities related to committee procedures and legislation.

“My role is ever-evolving,” she explained. “I make sure the committee knows House rules and committee rules. For example, I make sure they know how to start a hearing, mark up legislation, and how to offer an amendment. Is the amendment under the jurisdiction of the committee?

“I also draft legislation. I put the legislation together and put it in the proper format. Legislators generally come up with policy but they don’t draft the legislation.”

When a bill is drafted and is referred to the committee, it is Adesina’s job to decide which subcommittee will get the legislation. She also follows any bills through the House that may touch on the committee’s jurisdiction.

With the Democrats gaining control of the House after the 2018 election, Adesina said it’s an opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive.

“I appreciate the opportunity to lead, but there’s a pressure that goes along with it,” she noted. “Sometimes people underestimate how much work goes into leading. It pushes you to think about things differently. Now that the Democrats are in the majority, ideas that we’d been thinking about, concepts, we can now work on those things.”

Adesina’s first brush with agriculture came in 2012 when she became legislative director for U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio). At the time, Congress was working on the 2012 farm bill and Fudge was ranking member on the Nutrition Subcommittee.

“I had not worked in any agriculture before,” Adesina pointed out. “But I got into it. I did what I had to do. I worked hard to get her priorities into the farm bill. I thought, ‘I guess I’m in agriculture to stay.’ I made a lot of contacts and friends.”

She began working for the USDA in the Obama administration after a friend – a recruiter – encouraged her to apply. “Jobs were available in the administration. About a week after I sent in my bio, I had a call from the USDA. I was a lawyer and had worked on agricultural issues for the last few years. They said, ‘We have this opening, are you interested?’”

During her time at USDA, she worked with Freedom of Information Act requests. She made sure the agency complied with the law in responding to requests and monitored what types of information was being requested.

Working for USDA gave Adesina a better appreciation for the regulatory process. “That experience helped when I came back to (Capitol) Hill. It helped me to become a better drafter of legislation. Are there gaps or holes in the draft legislation? Are we giving flexibility and the opportunity to be nimble to the USDA, or are we tying their hands?”

The House Agriculture Committee’s work on passing a farm bill may be over, but its work isn’t done, Adesina said. “Implementation is the next thing. People want to know what’s in the farm bill, and when does that come to fruition?”

The committee is also interested in subjects such as the state of the rural economy and trade, she added.

In early April, Peterson named Isabel Rosa as senior counsel for the committee. She previously served as agricultural policy analyst with the Congressional Research Service and as legal counsel for the USDA’s office of the general counsel.

Rosa has juris doctor and master of science degrees from the University of Illinois. She was born in Brazil and comes from several generations of family coffee farmers.