Rep.
Kristi Noem (R-SD), member of the House Agriculture Committee, says that
Congress will pass a farm bill “in the coming months” according to an article
by the Argus Leader, available here. According the article, Noem indicated that:
“My
leadership team has told me that it’s going to happen, because I’ve been pretty
ugly with them at different times.” She
continued, “So I’m taking them at their word that they’re going to make sure it
gets scheduled and they’re going to make sure we’ve got the votes.”
The farm
bill continues to be a contentious issue in Congress over issues including the
nutrition title, farm program payments, and even a catfish inspection
program. For more background on these
issues past posts on this blog are available here,
here,
and here.
The
Senate has had success passing a farm bill, but the road to success has been
far more challenging in the House. In
2012, the House Agriculture Committee passed a farm bill, but it was never
brought up for a vote in the House. The
2012 outcome illustrates the deep divisions on certain issues, which is on only
display when the House initially failed to pass a farm bill earlier this
year. Later, the House split the
nutrition title from the farm bill that paved a possible path forward for
getting a competing bill that could be conferenced with the Senate. Notably, the House-passed bill would also
repeal the 1938 and 1949 permanent laws that have been the backstop to getting
previous farm bills across the legislative finish line. Indications have been that the House will
bring up a nutrition-only bill in September, following the August recess, that
would cut nutrition programs by about $40 billion. That said, significant doubts have been
expressed about the political viability of that approach.
