WASHINGTON, July 27, 2012 – With hot, scorching conditions
gripping much of the U.S., House GOP leaders are signaling that they are
finally feeling the political “heat” and willing to act on legislation that
could provide disaster aid for livestock producers and provide some measure of
certainty for other farmers by extending the 2008 farm bill for one year.
However, there are several different options under consideration for next week
and the process is still in flux, according to congressional sources.
“There are three or four different things that could happen” when the
House considers legislation which is expected to be scheduled for next
Wednesday, explained Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., during an interview with
Agri-Pulse last night. “Of course, all of this could change again between now
and Monday.”
Speaker
of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, said during a press conference Thursday
morning that he believes the House “will address the livestock disaster program
that, in the last farm bill, was unfortunately only authorized for four years.”
“We
will continue to work with Rep. Lucas and members of the committee on an appropriate
path forward,” Boehner added, without providing any specifics on what that path
would look like.
Rep.
Crawford said one option under consideration would extend the livestock and
nursery disaster programs that expired last year in a retroactive fashion,
essentially providing two years of coverage, as part of a one-year extension of
the 2008 Farm Bill. But pursuing that option would require finding over $300
million in offsets, which have not yet been identified.
There’s
been some discussion about scaling back direct payments to fund the disaster
provisions, but most of the sources we talked to said they wanted to avoid
cutting direct payments in order to provide more certainty for farmers and
lenders dealing with what could be extreme drought-related losses this year. Cuts
to the food stamp program would also be off the table.
Rep.
Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo, introduced a measure this week that would renew and
expand the livestock assistance programs.
However,
some members want to continue those programs along with the Supplemental
Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) to help farmers suffering from crop losses,
too. That’s despite the fact that the majority of producers are already covered
by crop insurance.
Rep.
Dave Loebsack, D-IA, and the entire Iowa delegation, have signed on to support
of H.R. 6167. By some estimates, an extension of SURE coupled with livestock
disaster aid could cost $2.5 billion or more – depending on how the final
language is written. Finding that level of offsets would be a much steeper climb.
“Farmers and
ranchers throughout the country are suffering under this unrelenting drought
and we cannot wait around any longer to see how politics will play out with a
new farm bill,” explained Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa who co-signed the bill.
A similar
measure has been introduced in the upper chamber, by Montana Democrats Sen. Max
Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester, along with North Dakota Democrat Sen. Kent Conrad.
Rep. Crawford
said another option under consideration would be for the House to approve a one-year
extension as a means to negotiate with the Senate on H.R. 6083, the FARRM bill
that passed out of the House Agriculture Committee. Then the Senate could
substitute the bill it adopted in June and conference with the House.
There are
several benefits of this approach, he noted, including giving producers some
certainty over the next year and giving USDA more time to implement new
provisions like the Stacked Income Protection Program (STAX) for cotton. The
agency has already signaled that it won’t be ready to implement the program for
2013 and needs more time to prepare.
“That could be
one of the ‘silver-linings’ of a one-year extension,” Crawford added, while
noting that he would prefer to see the House pass H.R. 6083. However, GOP
leaders have made it clear to Crawford and other freshman members that, with a
group of fiscal conservatives opposing the measure, passage of the five-year
package is unlikely.
If GOP leaders
wanted to schedule a vote on H.R. 6083, “We would probably lose 40-50 GOP
votes, but I think we could pick them up on the Democrat’s side,” he noted.
Thus far, that
appears to be a political gamble that GOP leaders are unwilling to take. And it
is unclear how many Democrats will be willing to support the measure.
But a one-year
extension might not be a “slam dunk” either, especially if those GOP members,
like Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who want to amend the House Ag Committee’s bill,
view it as a way to avoid regular order and avoid full floor debate.
While voicing opposition to a straight one-year extension, the House
Agriculture Committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson, signaled that
he’s open to an extension as long as it could be used as a vehicle to getting a
new five-year bill done.
In an interview last week, Peterson observed that GOP leaders were
underestimating the political mess they were getting themselves into by
delaying action on disaster aid and the farm bill. (See: http://www.agri-pulse.com/Peterson-optimistic-about-farm-bill-passage-07202012.asp)
Senate
Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, also indicated a
willingness to accept a short-term extension, as part of a longer-term effort.
“If the House intends to
send us a bill that will be used to negotiate the farm bill during August, I am
open to that approach,” Stabenow said. “However, a short-term extension is bad
for farmers and our agricultural economy. If Congress does what Congress always
does and kicks the can down the road with a short-term extension, there will be
no reform, direct payments will continue, we’ll lose the opportunity for major
deficit reduction and we’ll deliver a real blow to our economic recovery.”
House members contacted by Agri-Pulse say they are waiting to hear
more about the potential path forward and should know more by Monday or
Tuesday.
“I’m very hopeful that we will be able to pass a new farm bill or
an extension to bring some type of certainty to farmers, especially those
livestock folks who have been so hard hit by this drought,” emphasized Rep. Vicky
Hartzler, R-Mo.
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