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Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, 4/17/12
With Congress back from a two-week recess, legislative activity on the Farm Bill is ramping up in the Senate, while the House Agriculture Committee is poised to markup a proposal to satisfy the reconciliation instructions contained in the House Budget Resolution.
On the Senate side, the Senate Ag Committee is still expected to hold a markup by the end of April. Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has been working with ranking member Pat Roberts (R-KS) to produce a bipartisan mark and has reportedly joined him in opposing target price increases for commodities. The committee members will likely preview the draft privately and their initial reaction will determine how soon it will be released but may be "as early as late next week" according to an update on Friday from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC).
While the House Agriculture Committee will likely wait to initiate action on the Farm Bill until after the Senate Agriculture Committee has acted, the House committee will move this week on a package of funding cuts to satisfy reconciliation requirements of the House-passed budget. The top of the list for additional cuts is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In reference to the reconciliation process, House Ag Committee Ranking member Collin Peterson (D-MN) said in an interview with the Hagstrom Report that he would tell other Democratic members to "just vote against it" and "not cause any trouble" since the House budget resolution will not have an impact without the Senate passing a budget resolution. In addition, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) commissioned a report on crop insurance from the General Accountability Office (GAO) that showed the government could save $1 billion per year. The report, released last week, was criticized by fellow Republican and committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) who told the Oklahoma Farm Report, "this proposal would discourage participation in the crop insurance program and as a result endanger its integrity."
The Senate is working on a bill with a $23 billion cut over 10 years while the House will likely be working with at least a $33 billion cut. Peterson said that if both bills passed their respective chambers, those funding amounts would be "conferenceable." (Contact: Nathan Bowen, By: Kenton Kirkpatrick)
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