|
Farm Bill push for subsidy reform
Story Date: 11/14/2017
| |
Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE 11/13/17
House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway wants to move the 2018 farm bill through committee in January or February of next year. But opponents of the farm bill status quo have been preparing since 2014 for the battle that happens after that, in the full House and Senate. In this cycle, a coalition of unlikely allies has organized earlier than ever before to cut off farm subsidies for the wealthy, Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau and Helena Bottemiller Evich report this morning . The effort unites groups from across the ideological spectrum, including Heritage Action, Americans for Prosperity, the Environmental Working Group and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
For conservative and taxpayer-watchdog groups, targeting subsidies is part of the long-game effort to pull Washington's tentacles from every corner of the economy. For liberals and environmental advocates, reforming farm subsidies is a strategy for chipping away at existing farm policy, which they argue favors large operations and can harm the environment.
A political opening? It remains to be seen how much common ground the coalition of strange bedfellows can find, and whether there will be real policy reforms. But Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who spent two years crafting an alternative version of the farm bill, sees an opportunity to shake things up while the GOP is neither led nor fully embraced by President Donald Trump.
"I think we have a unique opportunity to reshape the farm bill that we've never had before," Blumenauer told the audience during a strategy session last month. He later told POLITICO he has his eyes squarely on what happens when the bill makes the House floor. "If there is an open process on the House floor to deal with amendments, we'll be in great shape," he said.
Heritage Action sees its greatest opening if the farm bill becomes primarily a GOP exercise. "When the farm bill as some sort of bipartisan feelgood measure breaks down is when we have an opportunity," said Dan Holler, vice president of Heritage Action.
|
|
|
|
