Peterson begins farm bill research with Gang of Six plan
House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., today endorsed the Gang of Six senators’ budget proposal and said he has instructed his staff to beginning researching a farm bill with the $11 billion in cuts that the proposal would involve.
“I think this is coming together,” Peterson told The Hagstrom Report. “I told my staff to start looking at this yesterday.”
One key farm lobbyist said that farmers would be “doing cartwheels” if the cuts in farm programs can be held to $11 billion over 10 years. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., proposed a $48 billion cut over 10 years in the fiscal year 2012 budget bill that the House passed. Senate Agriculture Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has said that passage of the Ryan budget proposal has made it increasingly difficult to keep the discussion of ag cuts at the $10 billion proposed under the Simpson-Bowles presidential commission plan.
Neither Stabenow nor Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the Gang of Six, has been willing to comment on the proposed farm cuts since the Gang of Six plan was revived Tuesday. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., did not return an email request for comment by publication time.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are looking at a short-term deal to raise the debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline, with plans for a bigger deal later, National Journal reported late today. Obama threw support to the Gang of Six proposal on Tuesday, but Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., noted that the proposal had not been written in legislative language or scored by the Congressional Budget Office. Other proposals including those by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden are also part of the policy mix.
Congressional leaders have signaled that both the House and the Senate will be session including weekends until some sort of deal to raise the debt limit is reached.
Under the Gang of Six proposal, Congress would impose some funding cuts immediately, but congressional committees including Agriculture would have six months to write legislation to achieve a mandated level of cuts. Farm programs would be cut by $11 billion over 10 years, but the supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps, would be protected from cuts.
“I think this is coming together,” Peterson told The Hagstrom Report. “I told my staff to start looking at this yesterday.”
One key farm lobbyist said that farmers would be “doing cartwheels” if the cuts in farm programs can be held to $11 billion over 10 years. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., proposed a $48 billion cut over 10 years in the fiscal year 2012 budget bill that the House passed. Senate Agriculture Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has said that passage of the Ryan budget proposal has made it increasingly difficult to keep the discussion of ag cuts at the $10 billion proposed under the Simpson-Bowles presidential commission plan.
Neither Stabenow nor Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the Gang of Six, has been willing to comment on the proposed farm cuts since the Gang of Six plan was revived Tuesday. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., did not return an email request for comment by publication time.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are looking at a short-term deal to raise the debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline, with plans for a bigger deal later, National Journal reported late today. Obama threw support to the Gang of Six proposal on Tuesday, but Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., noted that the proposal had not been written in legislative language or scored by the Congressional Budget Office. Other proposals including those by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden are also part of the policy mix.
Congressional leaders have signaled that both the House and the Senate will be session including weekends until some sort of deal to raise the debt limit is reached.
Under the Gang of Six proposal, Congress would impose some funding cuts immediately, but congressional committees including Agriculture would have six months to write legislation to achieve a mandated level of cuts. Farm programs would be cut by $11 billion over 10 years, but the supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps, would be protected from cuts.
