Conaway at odds with Lucas on House farm bill prospects
November 20, 2013 | 06:11 PM
Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, a House Agriculture subcommittee chairman, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., disagreed today on prospects for the House voting on the farm bill by December 13, the date the House will leave for the year.
Conaway told reporters he does not believe there will be a farm bill framework agreement by the end of this week, but that he believes the House will vote on the conference report by 11 a.m. on December 13, the time and date House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said the House will depart for the year.
Conaway said he did not believe here would be an agreement until after Thanksgiving because it is “human nature” in Congress not to make decisions until it is necessary, but that he still believes the conference report will be finished. “On December 13 at 11 o’clock, we’re done,” he said.
Conaway added he is not interested in a long-term or short-term extension.
But when asked about Conaway’s statement, Lucas said “I am a wheat farmer. I try to the extent possible to be optimistic. But don’t hold your breath.”
In other comments in conversations with reporters off the House floor, Conaway, who chairs the subcommittee in charge of commodities and risk management, and Lucas seemed to be in agreement.
The big obstacle in the farm bill, Conaway said, is nutrition, saying that he believes the discussion should shift from the size of the cut to the food stamp program to the policies behind it. Once the bill passes, Conaway said, no one will ever check whether a cut of a certain numerical size is achieved.
Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, ranking member on the subcommittee in charge of nutrition, said today that there have not been any meetings on nutrition “that I have been included in or aware of.”
Lucas said, however, that he has had a number of conversations with Fudge. “I don't know that she has missed out on anything,” he said.
Conaway also said that the way House farm bill conferees other than the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture committees are learning about what’s is going on in the conference is through their staff members who sit in “working groups” on various issues and through personal conversations with Lucas.
On a proposal by soy, corn and canola growers to use a rolling average of recent planted acres as the basis for payments, Conaway said it had to be considered along with all commodity title issues.
“You can’t make any decision in a vacuum,” Conaway said.
Lucas noted that if base acres are used, then in times of low prices people who are not currently farming would get payments, a policy that has been criticized.
He also noted that commodity groups and members of Congress make proposals from their own perspectives.
Conaway also said he is opposed to applying payment limits to crop insurance, in part because tax reform could change farmers’ adjusted gross income depending on what tax policies are allowed.
On the issue of who is “actively engaged” in farming, Conaway said he believes grandparents should be considered “actively engaged” because they “bring wisdom to the table.”
Conaway told reporters he does not believe there will be a farm bill framework agreement by the end of this week, but that he believes the House will vote on the conference report by 11 a.m. on December 13, the time and date House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said the House will depart for the year.
Conaway said he did not believe here would be an agreement until after Thanksgiving because it is “human nature” in Congress not to make decisions until it is necessary, but that he still believes the conference report will be finished. “On December 13 at 11 o’clock, we’re done,” he said.
Conaway added he is not interested in a long-term or short-term extension.
But when asked about Conaway’s statement, Lucas said “I am a wheat farmer. I try to the extent possible to be optimistic. But don’t hold your breath.”
In other comments in conversations with reporters off the House floor, Conaway, who chairs the subcommittee in charge of commodities and risk management, and Lucas seemed to be in agreement.
The big obstacle in the farm bill, Conaway said, is nutrition, saying that he believes the discussion should shift from the size of the cut to the food stamp program to the policies behind it. Once the bill passes, Conaway said, no one will ever check whether a cut of a certain numerical size is achieved.
Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, ranking member on the subcommittee in charge of nutrition, said today that there have not been any meetings on nutrition “that I have been included in or aware of.”
Lucas said, however, that he has had a number of conversations with Fudge. “I don't know that she has missed out on anything,” he said.
Conaway also said that the way House farm bill conferees other than the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture committees are learning about what’s is going on in the conference is through their staff members who sit in “working groups” on various issues and through personal conversations with Lucas.
On a proposal by soy, corn and canola growers to use a rolling average of recent planted acres as the basis for payments, Conaway said it had to be considered along with all commodity title issues.
“You can’t make any decision in a vacuum,” Conaway said.
Lucas noted that if base acres are used, then in times of low prices people who are not currently farming would get payments, a policy that has been criticized.
He also noted that commodity groups and members of Congress make proposals from their own perspectives.
Conaway also said he is opposed to applying payment limits to crop insurance, in part because tax reform could change farmers’ adjusted gross income depending on what tax policies are allowed.
On the issue of who is “actively engaged” in farming, Conaway said he believes grandparents should be considered “actively engaged” because they “bring wisdom to the table.”
