GOP Leaders Drop Farm Bill Extension Proposal

By CnAgri2012-08-01 19:36:15 Print

Republicans pulled their one-year farm bill extension from the House docket late Tuesday in favor of a narrower $383 million disaster aid package to address the immediate needs of drought-stricken livestock producers. According to Politico, the abrupt turnaround came just minutes before the House Rules Committee had been slated to take up the extension in anticipation of floor votes Wednesday. Within hours, the slimmer 22-page disaster bill had been filed with the promise of floor votes Thursday.

The substitute measure will restore livestock indemnity and forage programs that have expired in the current farm program, with some assistance also for specialty crops.

To keep down costs, the aid will apply only to 2012, while offsets will come from imposing caps on two conservation programs much as the House Appropriations Committee has already proposed in its 2013 budget bill. Early estimates indicate the net savings would be about $256 million.

"My priority remains to get a five-year farm bill on the books and put those policies in place," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.). "But the most pressing business before us is to provide disaster assistance to those producers impacted by the drought conditions who are currently exposed."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack dismissed the extension as an excuse not to put in the work to build a coalition needed for a long-term plan for producers but also all of rural America.