The US Congress is headed for a second stop-gap extension of current farm law if Republican leaders in the House of Representatives cannot get new legislation back on track after a stunning defeat. Farm lobbyists and analysts on Friday said a short-term extension was the easiest resolution of the previous day's legislative chaos, which derailed Republican plans for major reform to crop subsidies and food stamps.
As the debate rolls on, there will be no impact on food stamps, which account for about 75 percent of farm bill spending, and crop insurance, now the largest part of the safety net for farmers. Both programs are permanently authorised and would stay in operation if the current law is allowed to lapse, funded via annual appropriations bills.
On Thursday, the House, in an unprecedented step, defeated the five-year, $500 billion bill after Republican leaders were unable to get the votes they expected from fiscally conservative members of their party's Tea Party wing. Congress is months late in writing a new farm law, broad-spectrum legislation that governs crop subsidies, public nutrition, soil conservation, international food aid, rural development and agricultural research programs.
After an emergency extension at the end of 2012 that runs through September 30, the farm law would revert to an underlying "permanent" 1949 law if new action is not taken. Among other outcomes, milk prices in the grocery store would double due to the high commodity prices guaranteed to farmers by the 1949 law. That scenario, nicknamed the "Dairy Cliff," sparked lawmakers into action at the end of 2012.
Although the Democratic-run US Senate passed its farm bill by a bipartisan 66-27 vote last week, the House, with its Republican majority, split into three factions on Thursday, denying a majority of votes for a new farm bill. The House version of the bill was defeated, 234-195. Tea Party Republicans broke ranks with their leaders - notably Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor - to vote against the bill because they wanted deeper cuts. Democrats opposed the bill's hefty cuts to food stamps. "They (Republican leaders) just have no path forward," said Ferd Hoefner of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a small-farm advocate.
He said an extension of the 2008 law or passage of a "mini farm bill" with only a few changes from 2008 law were the most likely result "until the politics of the country calm down." Farm lobbyists also viewed an extension as the simplest option. There are also several other potential routes forward, including reviving the current House bill or using the Senate version as a vehicle to write a final compromise version of the farm law.
But any of these scenarios eventually would require a majority vote in the House, and that looks doubtful after Thursday's chaos. "That's a Speaker question," said analyst Mark McMinimy of Guggenheim Partners, referring to Boehner. A spokesman for Cantor, meanwhile, said Republican leaders have not decided on a next step. McMinimy said top Republicans might look for modifications to swing enough votes to the bill to pass it. But even if the original House bill were to pass, there would have to be a conference to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill, followed by another vote in each chamber.
Comments
Comments are closed.