Posted November 22, 2013
Farm bill negotiations broke down on Thursday and House
Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said it would be “very
challenging” for him to meet the Republican leadership’s schedule of having a
final agreement by December 13, according to a Politico article available here.
After three “face-to-face” meetings in 24 hours between
the negotiators for a framework deal before the Thanksgiving recess, Lucas
said, “On a member-to-member level, we are done for the week.”
While staff discussions will continue, the commodity
title and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
commonly known as food stamps, remain divisive issues.
Congress has made progress, but failure to meet the
December 13 deadline means the farm bill debate will continue into a third
year. Congress could pass a short-term
extension into January or the farm bill could revert back to the 1949 law.
The White House Rural Council released a report on
Thursday highlighting the benefits of passing a new farm bill before the end of
the year, according to an Agri-Pulse article available here.
“The alternatives to full reauthorization-either delay
or reversion to permanent law-would result in continued uncertainty for farmers
and rural stakeholders,” according to the Report available here.
Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, noted that
another farm bill extension will cost additional resources, when deficit
reduction is the goal. Vilsack said,
“With an extension, there comes costs…You don’t get the reforms the bill being
considered by the conference committee will provide.”
“I think Congress is capable of acting quickly,” said
Vilsack. “They act best and most
expeditiously when there’s a timeline.”
The report states that since the extension of the 2008
farm bill, “some programs have been simply extended, others remain either
unfunded, unauthorized, or without enactment of needed reforms.”
For more information on farm bills, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
