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ALL LEGISLATIVE LEADERS NOW CALL FOR EXTENSION OF THE 2018 FARM BILL
Nov. 6, 2023
POLITICO reports:
All four ag corners are now in agreement that an extension of the 2018 bill will be needed this fall, but none of them are giving up on a farm bill this Congress.
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| House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) said the House should be "cautious" with how much it includes in a farm bill extension. | Francis Chung/POLITICO |
Stabenow, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), and Reps. Thompson and David Scott (D-Ga.) have all now called for an extension. While the 2018 bill lapsed in October, lawmakers see Jan. 1 as the true drop-dead date for the farm bill, as that's when many major programs will revert to permanent law. Scott was the latest to publicly call for an extension.
"While we continue the bipartisan effort on the House Agriculture Committee to craft a new farm bill, the extremism and cynicism that has taken hold of the broader House Republican Conference makes a five-year farm bill reauthorization by the year's end increasingly unlikely," Scott said in a Friday statement.
What an extension will look like: Thompson, the chair of the House Ag Committee, told MA he's still planning to pass a House farm bill in December, in line with Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) plans. But Thompson said an extension will still be necessary as a "bridge" until the Senate finishes its work on the farm bill.
Thompson said the House should be "cautious how much we put in an extension," when asked about whether an extension would include additional funding for so-called "orphan" programs that will run out of funding on Jan. 1.
"I don't think we want to give the appearance that we don't have a need to actually do our work and get a farm bill done," he said. "One thing that will be critical from my perspective is the Dairy Margin Coverage [program]. But other things like the orphan programs, I think the incentive should be to do our job."
From the top: Johnson, who is still assembling his team, has yet to dive into detailed planning for the next farm bill, according to the three GOP lawmakers who've recently spoken with the new speaker, Meredith reports.
But Johnson has been quietly "engaging some members" on farm bill issues, two House Republicans tell Meredith. The pair were granted anonymity to discuss internal conference matters.
The new speaker and his team have been surveying some members about their positions on hot-button farm bill issues, including what type of new SNAP restrictions they would support, as GOP leaders try to chart out a path forward, according to one of the Republicans.
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