Farm bill conference may hold public session next week
December 06, 2013 | 01:22 PM
Farm bill conferees may meet in a public session next week, a House Republican aide confirmed to The Hagstrom Report today.
Nothing has been scheduled, the aide noted, but the possibility of a member meeting is an indication of continuing progress on the bill. The coming week is the only one in which both the House and the Senate will be in session.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., chairs the conference. Lucas has said that issues such as whether there would be changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act and country of original labeling for meat are likely to be discussed and voted on in a public session.
The Obama administration signaled late Thursday that leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees should continue working hard to finish the farm bill.
“Negotiations on Capitol Hill about the farm bill should continue until House and Senate leaders reach agreement on a comprehensive bill. Numerous members of both sides have indicated progress, and the country deserves continued work on this critical legislation,” Matt Paul, the communications director for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an email to reporters sent by USDA and the White House about 6:45 p.m.
The email followed a day in which House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he believes a one-month extension of the farm bill may be needed before the House leaves for the year next Friday, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the House would be prepared to take up a conference report next week if one were offered.
Lucas acknowledged to reporters that finishing a conference report before the House leaves town would be “Herculean” and that he would spend this weekend in Oklahoma, but he also said that he hopes Congress will not need to approve a one month-extension, The Hill reported.
Lucas said that “if the members know with certainty, if the U.S. Department of Agriculture knows with certainty that a finished product will be on the floor the first few days in January, I think that probably would reassure everyone involved,” Roll Call Online reported.
“As Sen. [Debbie] Stabenow [D-Mich.] says, nothing is ever done until all the parts are complete,” Lucas continued. “Maybe Sen. Stabenow is right,” Lucas said. “It would still be my hope that we could get all of our work done in time to not require an extension.”
Lucas also told reporters that the bill is not far enough along to provide a full briefing to Boehner.
Meanwhile, some details on the commodity title began to leak out, according to various publications.
Lucas confirmed that one option on the table would be using the House's price loss coverage program but basing it on the Senate's preference for historic acres, rather than actual acres planted, The Hill said. The corn, soybean and canola industries and Midwestern lawmakers have said that using current planted acres could bring a World Trade Organization complaint that the U.S. farm program rather than market signals is triggering U.S. production.
The rough goal is to pay on 85 percent of base acres for both the new revenue and price loss programs in the proposed commodity title, Politico reported.
House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who has advocated using current planted acres, told reporters he has gone along with the Senate proposal.
“Don’t ask me to defend it, that’s all I told them,” Peterson joked with reporters, according to the Politico report. “We’ve never had the base acres scored,” he said.
Peterson also said farmers would likely be asked to choose whether they want a program based on revenue or target prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics released a document, “Mapping the Fate of the Farm Bill,” which explains some of the regional implications of rewriting the commodity title.
Nothing has been scheduled, the aide noted, but the possibility of a member meeting is an indication of continuing progress on the bill. The coming week is the only one in which both the House and the Senate will be in session.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., chairs the conference. Lucas has said that issues such as whether there would be changes to the Packers and Stockyards Act and country of original labeling for meat are likely to be discussed and voted on in a public session.
The Obama administration signaled late Thursday that leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees should continue working hard to finish the farm bill.
“Negotiations on Capitol Hill about the farm bill should continue until House and Senate leaders reach agreement on a comprehensive bill. Numerous members of both sides have indicated progress, and the country deserves continued work on this critical legislation,” Matt Paul, the communications director for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an email to reporters sent by USDA and the White House about 6:45 p.m.
The email followed a day in which House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he believes a one-month extension of the farm bill may be needed before the House leaves for the year next Friday, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the House would be prepared to take up a conference report next week if one were offered.
Lucas acknowledged to reporters that finishing a conference report before the House leaves town would be “Herculean” and that he would spend this weekend in Oklahoma, but he also said that he hopes Congress will not need to approve a one month-extension, The Hill reported.
Lucas said that “if the members know with certainty, if the U.S. Department of Agriculture knows with certainty that a finished product will be on the floor the first few days in January, I think that probably would reassure everyone involved,” Roll Call Online reported.
“As Sen. [Debbie] Stabenow [D-Mich.] says, nothing is ever done until all the parts are complete,” Lucas continued. “Maybe Sen. Stabenow is right,” Lucas said. “It would still be my hope that we could get all of our work done in time to not require an extension.”
Lucas also told reporters that the bill is not far enough along to provide a full briefing to Boehner.
Meanwhile, some details on the commodity title began to leak out, according to various publications.
Lucas confirmed that one option on the table would be using the House's price loss coverage program but basing it on the Senate's preference for historic acres, rather than actual acres planted, The Hill said. The corn, soybean and canola industries and Midwestern lawmakers have said that using current planted acres could bring a World Trade Organization complaint that the U.S. farm program rather than market signals is triggering U.S. production.
The rough goal is to pay on 85 percent of base acres for both the new revenue and price loss programs in the proposed commodity title, Politico reported.
House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who has advocated using current planted acres, told reporters he has gone along with the Senate proposal.
“Don’t ask me to defend it, that’s all I told them,” Peterson joked with reporters, according to the Politico report. “We’ve never had the base acres scored,” he said.
Peterson also said farmers would likely be asked to choose whether they want a program based on revenue or target prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics released a document, “Mapping the Fate of the Farm Bill,” which explains some of the regional implications of rewriting the commodity title.
