Farm Bill Deadline Looming (2/22/2008)

Perhaps the most pressing matter in Congress when it returns will be to pass the Farm Bill before it expires on March 15th, at which point the old 1949 agriculture law will take effect. Despite the fact that House and Senate leaders have been working for weeks on reaching an agreement, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer remains skeptical that they can reach a deal that the White House will accept before the deadline. In support of his presumption, House and Senate leaders continue to disagree on the overall spending levels for the bill, and have yet to meet on the particular provisions of many of the programs in the bill. Even if an agreement on overall spending is reached, there are a lot of details that still need to be ironed out before the bill is ready for a final vote and the President’s signature.

After receiving veto threats from the White House, House leaders proposed a Farm Bill that only goes $6 billion above baseline spending, a proposal that they claim the President supports. However, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) is not satisfied with such a small increase for the nation’s largest agricultural bill. Harkin made a counterproposal that authorizes spending at more than $12 billion above the baseline. The Administration has stated its opposition to Harkin’s proposal, which does not give the Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman much bargaining power with his House counterparts. However, to get a final bill to the President, the Senate will have to agree to the proposed spending levels, and Sen. Harkin is very influential among both parties in the Senate.

While the House and Senate leaders debate the overall spending, there has been very little talk about the programmatic details of the various titles of the bill. Congress must still choose which expansion of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program it will choose to present to the President. A majority of advocacy groups support the Senate language, which will expand the program into all 50 states, authorizing $225 million for the next fiscal year. Under this proposal, all 50 states would receive 1% of the annual appropriation, with the remaining 50% doled out on a population basis.

The Senate language does not include any set aside for administrative use, though the House’s expansion calls for a 5% set aside. The issues will not be resolved until the leaders can come to terms on funding for the bill. They have just two weeks before the deadline arrives, at which point the law will revert back to the 1949 legislation, or Congress will have to pass a temporary extension of the current Farm Bill.

Resources:
Geof Koss, “Agriculture Secretary Sees Closing Window for Farm Bill,” Congress Now, February 21, 2008.
Author: SAS