Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 9/7/21

House and Senate Democrats are continuing to negotiate the language for the multi trillion-dollar spending package that is expected to include a variety of the party’s social goals for agriculture including on immigration, conservation, school lunches and farmer debt relief.

GOP fuming: The House Ag Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of the committee’s portion of the reconciliation bill on Friday, but GOP members are already speaking out against the process.

In a letter sent over the weekend, panel Republicans urged Chair David Scott (D-Ga.) to report the bill “unfavorably” and to hold more public hearings and events to discuss the spending.

“It is unconscionable Democrats would provide additional funding in excess of the five-year baseline for farm programs of the 2018 farm bill without engaging Republican members and stakeholders, conducting departmental oversight, or understanding USDA’s current needs versus its existing resources,” they write in the letter.

Call for biofuels continues: Also over the weekend, 10 lawmakers sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking for more support for biofuels in the reconciliation process.

They want the leaders to consider five different bills for inclusion in negotiations, including the proposed Biofuel Infrastructure and Agricultural Product Market Expansion Act which would help install new fuel pumps to deliver ethanol blends greater than 10 percent and biodiesel blends greater than 20 percent.

Lawmakers, including Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), have pushed for biofuel investments in the infrastructure package and were disappointed when they were left out.

Manchin pumps the brakes: But while lawmakers are negotiating, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) last week called on Democrats to scale back on their plans to pass the $3.5 trillion social spending package. He said he wouldn’t support a package with a price tag that large without “further clarity on the economic impact of inflation and the national debt on current government programs,” reports POLITICO’s Marianne LeVine.

What’s next: Schumer has set a deadline of Sept. 15 for committees to complete their work and progressives want to see the entire package passed before Sept. 27, the date by which Pelosi has committed to a House vote on bipartisan physical infrastructure bill.