The clock is ticking down on this session of Congress, but there is still a lot of work left to do on the hill.
Farm policy experts say that lawmakers have a busy road ahead.
According to Tom Sell, “This is not going to be a Schoolhouse Rock type of, you know, ‘I’m just a bill on Capitol Hill’ going through all the steps that we’ve all learned about in government classes back when we were kids. This will me more of a, you know, how can we cobble together the work, the good work that’s been done, and maybe they, I assume, start with the House passed, the House Committee passed bill, the starting point, and say what else do we need to get Chairwoman Stabenow in the Senate and others on board and then what vehicle can we attach this to. Is there a spending bill or is it an end-of-year kind of package to address the things that weren’t done and that you want to accomplish before the Congress adjourns.”
However, before any work can happen on this year’s Farm Bill, lawmakers have to get spending bills to the President’s desk before risking a partial government shutdown on October 1st.
“The first issue and that’s government funding. So, the fiscal year ends September 30th. Congress will need to either kick the can to the lame duck session after the election or if they could kick the can until early in the new year. Congress is late to the game when it comes to completing a Farm Bill,” AFBF’s Ryan Yates explains. “They failed to get it done last year, and they continue to fail in finding a path forward.”
A former Trump administration official told the Farm Foundation that congressional ag leaders need to take control of the situation.
“GT Thomson’s done a remarkable job of putting together a bipartisan bill that’s ready to move forward. It’s in the Senate where it’s been slowed down but we all know that. But the reality is it takes leadership and it starts at the top and we need to have a president that says, ‘Get this done,’” Kim Tom with Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition states. “Senator Stabenow needs to get back at the table, get in those negotiations, and get something done. When you look
at a Farm Bill it’s going to be a $1.5 trillion bill over five years, and the food provisions or the SNAP provisions within it is almost 83% of that total cost. I can’t believe there isn’t some room to negotiate a little bit when you consider the fraud that takes place inside of SNAP.”
Despite the calls for quick action, some analysts and lawmakers believe another extension of the 2018 will be necessary.
