With Farm Bill Still Stalled, Nutrition Takes Center Stage

Negotiators have not made much progress regarding the Farm Bill this week. The chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry were able to unify against efforts by the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees to gain jurisdiction over certain Farm Bill programs, but they remain at odds with the White House regarding total spending for the bill. Meanwhile, school nutrition gained the spotlight early this week during a Congressional hearing and a legislative action conference.

The current Farm Bill, set to expire on March 15th, will likely be extended through April, as Congress seems unable to reach common ground with the Bush Administration. Despite her very outspoken opposition to an extension, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will allow for a month-long extension, but no more than that. Congressional leaders are growing exceedingly frustrated with the Administration over the Farm Bill negotiations. House and Senate leaders were able to reach a tentative agreement on spending that is $10 billion above baseline spending, $4 billion more than the level the White House supports.

Despite the White House’s concerns, if Congress can find acceptable offsets, President Bush may still sign the bill when it gets to his desk. However, President Bush and Sen. Harkin disagree on what constitutes an adequate offset. About $8 billion of the $10 billion in offsets would come from spending cuts on the Administration’s list. Congressional aides say Administration officials have put their stamp of approval on those spending cuts, but are not likely to support any additional offsets in spending that would require new taxes.

While the Farm Bill sits in limbo, school nutrition advocates descended on Capitol Hill this week, laying out their priorities for the remainder of the legislative session. The School Nutrition Association’s Legislative Action Conference made national nutrition standards a priority this week, but Congress seemed much more interested in the causes and effects of the recent beef recall. At a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on Tuesday, panelists came prepared to discuss efforts to ensure that all foods sold on school property are held to a high set of uniform nutritional standards. Members of the committee, however, continued to zero in on the beef recall, specifically grilling U.S. Department of Agriculture officials on the process by which they monitor the quality of beef processed in the United States.

Some advocates fear that their other messages were lost in the clutter, but the majority of advocates who came to Capitol Hill spent much of their time meeting with their Representatives and Senators, making sure that the delegation is well aware of the nutrition priorities of the various states.

Resources:
Catharine Richert and Adrianne Kroepsch, “Pelosi Won’t Back Farm Bill Extension,” CQ Today, March 6, 2008.
Geof Koss, “Key Farm Bill Players Cite Progress, Unity on Jurisdictional Rift,” Congress Now, March 6, 2008.
Author: SAS