Posted by: Phillip Fraas
March 19, 2008
Topic: REPORTS ON 2008 FARM BILL STATUS--January 2008 To Enactment

Since my last posting of March 2, there hasn't been much in the way of significant developments to report. That is for a couple of reasons.

First, back on March 2, the House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders were looking to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committee leaders to find revenue sources to cover the roughly $10 billion that the ag leaders seek for increased spending in the new farm bill. It is perceived necessary to have this money available before the farm bill negotiators can work out their differences on substantive issues, such as the levels of price support, nutrition spending, and so on.

As of today, they are still looking. Reports are that, so far, Finance and Ways and Means have only come up with about $5 to 6 billion for increased spending.

Second, on March 14, Congress adjourned two weeks for its Easter recess. During recesses that long, most members return to their home districts and work on constituent issues; and it is hard to get things done when they are out of town and focused on other matters. Of course, during the recess, the agriculture committee staffers are working very hard to wrap up the noncontroversial parts of the farm bill, but no important decisions can get made until the members return.

Nonetheless, I haven't detected any whiff of defeatism about the prospect of getting a farm bill soon, either on Capitol Hill or within the Bush Administration.

Just before it left town, Congress passed another short-term extension of the current farm bill to April 18, 2008; and the President quickly signed it into law. This legislation buys time for the farm bill negotiators to complete their work. Congress recovnenes on March 31, and thus will have almost three weeks to see if they can push the farm bill over the top.

For its part, the Administration has taken steps to facilitate a farm bill agreement. The Department of Agriculture has signaled that the Administration could live with an increase in spending of $10 billion if the details are right, and with an adjusted gross income cap (AGI) of $500,000. As to the latter, the Administration has threatened a veto of any farm bill that doesn't include reform of the way farm programs work. One key element of that reform, to the Administration, is barring farm support payments to persons with adjusted gross income of over $200,000 a year. Many in Congress, however, are equally insistent on a AGI cap much closer to $1 million and with some exemptions. The Administration's willingnesss to consider a $500,000 cap opens the door to the possibility of a compromise on this very contentious issue.

Finally, there is a general feeling among just about everyone working on, or following, the farm bill that, once the budget issues are resolved, the other big differences that separate the negotiators can quickly be bridged. Whether that is so or not, until the money issue is resolved, nothing goes forward. So, we continue to play a waiting game for now.

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FARM BILL UPDATE: A Little Progress But Funding Issue Still Unresolved

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