Posted by: Phillip Fraas
November 28, 2007
Topic: REPORTS ON FARM BILL STATUS--Second Half of 2007

The word circulating in recent days (based on information from Senate agriculture committee staff) is that the Democrats and Republicans are near an agreement to facilitate the Senate floor debate and a final vote on the Senate farm bill in December.

It is reported that the potential agreement would set up rules governing the farm bill floor debate to allow about 5 Democratic amendments and 10 Republican amendments. The list of authorized amendments could include perhaps a couple of non-germane proposals (that is, amendments not related to the farm and food policy provisions reported by the Senate agriculture committee), such as an amendment to deal with the alternative minimum tax issue or one on renewable fuel standards.

In addition, no doubt, there will be a large manager's amendment to be propounded by agriculture committee Chairman Tom Harkin after clearance with the ranking committee Republican, Saxby Chamblis, consisting of non-controversial amendments and technical corrections to the committee draft. The manager's amendment would require, and most likely get, unanimous consent approval.

If this agreement comes to pass, then the Senate likely will take up and pass the farm bill next week or the following week.

The course of the farm bill after that would not be as clear.

After Senate debate, the House and Senate agriculture committees have joint responsibility for taking the next step toward final passage of the legislation: convening a House-Senate conference committee to resolve the differences between their two versions of the farm bill. And, with pressure from farm groups and others already being put on Congress to pass the farm bill as soon as practicable, the staff work drafting the conference documents (which spell out the specific differences between the two bills) and exploring ways to resolve the easiest, least controversial differences likely would begin in earnest as soon as the Senate completed its work on the bill.

But, given the size of the two bills, and the substantial differences between them as they stand now, I wouldn't expect the conference to farmally commence and negotiations on the tough issues to begin until Congress returned from its Christmas recess in January.

Beyond that, it is impossible at this time to predict when all the differences between the House and the Senate, and between Congress and the Bush Administration, over the farm bill would be resolved under this scenario. A ballpark guess might be anywhere from three weeks to two months after Congress returns from the Christmas recess. What is known now is that need for action will increase dramatically the farther we get into 2008 and the closer we get to the planting season for 2008 crops.

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