Farm bill Advances from U.S. House Panel
Republicans moved their long-awaited new farm bill through the U.S. House Agriculture Committee last week, despite opposition from most Democrats about cuts in SNAP payments and nutritional benefits that could stall further advancement.
The massive $1.5 trillion legislation would set policy and funding levels for key food, agriculture, and conservation programs for the next five years. After a marathon markup Thursday, the GOP-authored bill cleared the committee after midnight Friday, 33-21, with four Democratic votes.
The committee’s bill would increase farm “safety net” payments for some commodity crops, expand eligibility for disaster assistance, and increase funding for speciality crops, organic farmers, and dairy farmers.
It is expected to cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years. A title-by-title summary of the 942-page bill can be found here.
Democrats Don Davis of North Carolina, Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, and Eric Sorenson of Illinois joined all committee Republicans to vote to advance the bill.
After hours of heated debate and criticism from Democrats, support from the four lawmakers across the aisle seemed to surprise House Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican who was the bill’s primary sponsor.
While the House committee engaged in 13 hours of debate on the farm bill markup, both Democrats and Republicans acknowledged that there would need to be more negotiations on the bill before it could become law.
Rep. Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican and longtime committee member who chaired the panel from 2011 to 2015, characterized the committee vote as “the first step of a long journey.”
“Now, ultimately, ultimately, we must work with each other to advance a comprehensive committee product,” Lucas said.
“As we begin this process, I want to remind all my colleagues, the real struggle is not here in the Ag Committee, but on the floor of the United States House and in the conference committee. We will sort out our differences with the United States Senate.”