Representatives and staff of several farm organizations met the week before Easter in Washington to discuss the status of preparations to write a new farm bill this year. The groups discussed what they could do to improve chances of completing the process before the 2014 bill expires Sept. 30, according to a newsletter from the American Soybean Association.
Before the current recess, disagreements between Republican and Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee over food stamp program reform have continued and worsened. There is growing concern that both sides are digging in and reducing prospects for progress when Congress returns to Washington on April 9.
The attention has now focused on negotiations between Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-KS, and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, who both said they are prepared to put forward a bipartisan bill by the end of April that would include few if any changes in the SNAP program.
If the committee leadership is able to make it through both their panel and across the Senate floor on strong bipartisan votes, it will raise pressure on the House to resolve its differences and move forward to mark-up a bill in committee that can receive a majority vote on the House floor, as opposed to the failed effort in 2013 that resulted in splitting the last farm bill in two.
It is considered likely that House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, R-TX, will not be able to find 218 votes among fellow Republicans to pass a bill without changing the SNAP provisions, meaning that enough moderate Democrats will need to support a bill with changes that are more acceptable to the anti-hunger community.
In addition to ASA, also attending the meeting were representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, National Corn Growers Association, National Barley Growers Association and National Association of Wheat Growers.
Larry Dreiling can be reached at 785-628-1117 or [email protected].
