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Senate Ag Committee approves Farm Bill; sent to Senate floor
Story Date: 5/15/2013
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Source: U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY, 5/14/13
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (the Senate Farm Bill) has been officially introduced on the Senate floor (S.954). Here is a link to the bill that has been officially introduced: http://www.ag.senate.gov/issues/farm-bill.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today voted overwhelmingly to approve the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013, a bipartisan Farm Bill authored by Committee Chairwoman Senator Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Senator Thad Cochran. The Committee voted in favor of the bill on a 15-5 vote.
The bill includes major reform in food and agricultural policy by ending direct payments and transitioning to responsible risk management tools that support farmers only when they have been impacted by disaster, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Overall, the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 will yield a total of over $23 billion dollars in spending cuts by eliminating unnecessary subsidies, consolidating programs to end duplication, and combating misuse and fraud in food assistance programs. These reforms allow for the strengthening of key initiatives that help farmers and small businesses reach new markets and create American jobs. The measure will now go to the full Senate for consideration.
“Reforming agriculture programs will save taxpayers billions of dollars while helping farmers, ranchers and small businesses create American jobs,” Stabenow said. “Because the Agriculture Committee worked across party lines to streamline programs, we were able to save tax dollars while investing in initiatives that help boost exports, help family farmers sell locally and spur innovations in new bio-manufacturing and bio-energy industries.”
Stabenow continued, “We look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues in a bipartisan way to enact a Farm Bill this year before the current extension expires. Agriculture supports 16 million jobs in this country, and it’s absolutely critical to provide farmers the certainty they need to plan and grow by passing a Farm Bill this year.”
To view a copy of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013, including the amendments that were accepted by the Committee, please visit the Senate Agriculture Committee website at http://www.ag.senate.gov/issues/farm-bill. A title-by-title summary of the bill is also available as well as an archived webcast of the markup proceedings. A short summary of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act is below.
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