Debate on the 2018 House farm bill will begin sometime May 16, according to an announcement from the office of majority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA.
During the first of two House Rules Committee hearings set for the week to decide on the scope of the farm bill debate, it was decided for a rule providing for one hour of general debate to start earlier than the planned May 17 start, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the House Agriculture Committee. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule.
The “more intellectually stimulating amendments,” as Rules Committee chairman Pete Sessions, R-TX, put it, will be dealt with in the Rules Committee May 16 at 2 p.m. CDT. Those amendments likely will deal with—among other things—the sugar program, crop insurance and checkoffs.
Meanwhile the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement of administration policy saying the Trump administration would support the House version of the farm bill as it “provides long-term certainty to rural America and promotes regulatory and spending reforms across farm and nutrition programs. Overall, H.R. 2 is a positive step in that direction.”
The statement said the bill would provide certainty to producers while enacting work requirement under SNAP.
“Additionally, the administration appreciates that the bill reduces overly generous payments for participating in the Conservation Reserve Program, eliminates the Conservation Stewardship Program, and pursues management and regulatory reforms on public lands,” the statement said.
“If H.R. 2 were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend that he sign the bill into law.”
Larry Dreiling can be reached at 785-628-1117 or [email protected].
