Ag panel leaders insist they want to move quickly despite extension
Leaders of the House and Senate Ag committees insist they’ll move ahead as quickly as possible next year to write a new farm bill. But they’ve effectively given themselves until the end of the next year under the farm bill extension that easily passed the House Tuesday as part of the stopgap spending measure.
House Ag Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., says the committee will continue to work with USDA staff and the Congressional Budget Office on crafting key provisions for a new bill. “The House will continue to do its due diligence,” he told Agri-Pulse after the 336-95 vote on the stopgap bill and farm bill extension. He has said it will be January at the earliest before the committee moves legislation.
Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., warns that the prolonged appropriations process, which is now going to extend into February or beyond, could delay work on a farm bill. But she told reporters Tuesday her committee could go forward with a bill without waiting on House Ag.
Keep in mind: Neither committee appears to be close to an agreement on some key issues, including changes to commodity programs. It often takes a hard deadline for lawmakers to cut deals on the more difficult issues.
Source: Agri-Pulse Daybreak for November 15, 2023