Senate Passes the Farm Bill

The Senate finally passed H.R. 2419, the 2007 Farm Bill today, by a vote of 79-14. Despite the bill’s passage, months after the House passed their version, interested parties will still have to wait for a finished Farm Bill. The House and Senate bills now head to conference, where lawmakers will have to work out considerable differences. Congressional leaders do not expect a finished bill until late January.

Currently, the Senate version expands the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) into every state. This program provides fresh fruits and vegetables for public school children, part of continuing national efforts to fight childhood obesity. The bill directs $225 million for the program in fiscal year 2008, if the funding is available. From there, it calls for annual appropriations to dictate the spending levels. Senator Harkin claims it will lead to about $1.1 billion over five years. Each year, each of the 50 states will receive 1% of the available funds for the program, with the remaining funds allocated based on states’ proportion of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch under the National School Lunch Program.
State educational agencies (SEAs) are directed to allocate the funds to schools where at least 50% of their students are eligible for free or reduce price lunches. Per student spending at an individual school must be between $50 and $75. If there is an insufficient number of schools that meet the 50% requirement, SEAs are directed to give priority to schools with higher proportions of students eligible for free or reduced price lunches. SEAs are also directed to give priority to schools that combine efforts under the FFVP program with additional nutrition and healthy living programs.

The House bill authorizes $70 million for expanding the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) into 35 schools in each state. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would then distribute additional funds, as necessary, to states based on population. Unlike the Senate version, the House funding is fully authorized and is not contingent on available funds. However, in both versions, actual annual funding is subject to the politics of the appropriations process. The House version also reserves 5% of state grant for state administrative uses. The Senate bill does not provide for administration.

Senator Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) amendment imposing national standards on the foods sold on public school campuses never came to the Senate floor for a vote. The standards would apply to any elementary and secondary schools that receive funding from any national school lunch or other food-related programs and they would carry over into competitive foods that are sold outside of the school cafeteria, including vending and soda machines. The proposal would also trump any state standards already in place, whether they are weaker or stronger than the federal mandate.

Sen. Harkin and his supporters spent the last month publicizing the amendment, including articles in the New York Times, attempting to get support from the public. Despite the amount of work that Harkin and his staff put into the amendment, he was unable to get a vote on the issue. Because of the agreement limiting number of amendments under consideration, Harkin’s proposal may simply have fallen too low on the priority list. However, Harkin continues to state his commitment to passing the national standards, possibly as a rider on a different piece of legislation.

Resources:
Catharine Richert, “Farm Bill Headed for Senate Passage,” CQ Today, December 13, 2007.
Author: SAS