Farm bill conference action expected to start this week
January 06, 2014 | 03:01 PM
The leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees are likely to announce a framework agreement on the farm bill this week, possibly as early as Tuesday, Hill sources have told The Hagstrom Report.
The sources said the full bill could also be released this week, possibly Wednesday, and a public meeting could be scheduled, probably Thursday, of the 41 conferees to vote on the most contentious issues and on approval of the overall bill.
Committee chairmen and ranking members are also expected to brief the other conferees before the final bill is released, one Hill source said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., have both signaled they expect to bring up the conference report soon.
In a memo to House members, Cantor said that the farm bill and water resources development act “conference reports represent new ideas on how government programs should work and as soon as they are ready for consideration, I expect to schedule these in the House.”
The Senate returned to Washington today, and the House comes back Tuesday.
Congress appears to be under pressure to send the bill to the Senate and House floors before both chambers leave town for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January 20 and a week in their states and districts.
The House is scheduled to be in session until January 16, returning January 27 to 29. The Senate is scheduled to be in Washington this month except for the period of January 20 to 24.
The sources said the full bill could also be released this week, possibly Wednesday, and a public meeting could be scheduled, probably Thursday, of the 41 conferees to vote on the most contentious issues and on approval of the overall bill.
Committee chairmen and ranking members are also expected to brief the other conferees before the final bill is released, one Hill source said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., have both signaled they expect to bring up the conference report soon.
In a memo to House members, Cantor said that the farm bill and water resources development act “conference reports represent new ideas on how government programs should work and as soon as they are ready for consideration, I expect to schedule these in the House.”
The Senate returned to Washington today, and the House comes back Tuesday.
Congress appears to be under pressure to send the bill to the Senate and House floors before both chambers leave town for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January 20 and a week in their states and districts.
The House is scheduled to be in session until January 16, returning January 27 to 29. The Senate is scheduled to be in Washington this month except for the period of January 20 to 24.
