Source: POLITICO MORNING AGRICULTURE, 10/19/17



Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow is trying to defend the farm bill from any trimming that could happen as a result of the budget reconciliation process that kicked off in the upper chamber this week.

The Michigan Democrat announced late Wednesday that she filed an amendment intended to spare all farm bill programs from any reduction in spending from 2019 to 2028. The move - which is likely to be seen as more symbolic than anything and appears to fit into a larger Democratic strategy - comes as the Senate gears up to consider the GOP budget resolution, which would pave the way for a deal on tax reform. The Senate's budget resolution already spares the ag committee from having to deliver any cuts, but the House budget resolution calls for $10 billion in reductions over a decade, and the two measures will need to be reconciled. 

"As we write the next farm bill, we need to send a clear message to our farmers, families and rural communities, that they are not on the chopping block for cuts," Stabenow said. "This budget amendment will protect the farm bill from harmful reductions in funding and ensure that we continue to protect our land and water and invest in our farmers and small towns."

The 'we-already-made-cuts' argument: As many in the agriculture community have argued, Stabenow contends farm programs shouldn't be mined for savings because the ag committees have already focused on making cuts. More than $100 billion is expected to be saved under the 2014 farm bill, though the vast majority of that comes from reductions in people receiving SNAP benefits.