Talks on Farm Bill Plow Ahead Quietly;Critics Complain Process is Undemocratic
Four years ago, Congress' fiery debate over the farm bill included a Republican filibuster, a presidential veto and an eight-month extension of the expired farm bill before the new $307 billion program could be enacted.
This year, with the government intent on hacking into the federal deficit, the farm bill debate could be a calmer event essentially completed before year's end in a process that critics call undemocratic.
"They're writing what we call a 'secret farm bill,' " said Sara Sciammacco, spokeswoman for the Environmental Working Group about deliberations by the leadership of the agriculture committees from the U.S. House and Senate that could produce farm bill cuts as part of the larger deficit reduction initiative. "This process would be unprecedented. It's not a democratic way of writing legislation, certainly not a farm bill."
Early speculation suggests the agricultural leaders are inclined to do away with or severely cut farm subsidies called direct payments, farm assistance that is not tied to crop production or a farmer's income and has drawn criticism from the working group and farm policy reform advocates.
But Sciammacco said those payments could be replaced by a heavily subsidized income guarantee program for farmers that would not make the bill fairer and more effective.
Billions in cuts
While the chairman, chairwoman and the two ranking members of the agriculture committees have not called their work a final farm bill, they have proposed to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction $23 billion in agricultural spending cuts over 10 years.
They are working on the details of those cuts, which if eventually adopted, would form the basis of the new farm bill, a package of legislation that provides a financial safety net for farmers, finances commodity distribution programs including food stamps and supports other agricultural programming. The current farm bill expires next year.
Framework for final bill
Rep. Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, said in an interview with AgriTalk last month that the cuts would form a framework for a final farm bill and if adopted would "reflect a commitment from the leadership in Congress that ag's done its part for the next five years."
Lucas and others speculate that most of the cuts - about $15 billion - would come from commodity programs, the price supports provided to growers of wheat, cotton, feed grains and other commodities.
Conservation programs could be in line for $6 billion in cuts, with the rest coming from funding for food stamps and other distribution programs, officials have said.
The proposal, though still hazy, has won support from many agricultural producer groups.
"We have quite a bit of trust in those people who are developing the proposal," said Floresville-area farmer and rancher Russell Boening who is part of the Texas Farm Bureau's board of directors. "With the government's focus on deficit reduction, it might be the best bill we could get."
Deadline looms
Time, however, is a critical concern.
The congressional leaders must get their proposals to the deficit reduction committee soon because that committee faces a Nov. 23 deadline to propose $1.2 trillion in federal spending reductions over the next 10 years.
Congress then would have about a month to adopt those proposals or see automatic cutbacks scheduled for a wide range of federal spending, including agriculture.
L.G. Raun, an El Campo-area rice farmer who chairs the Texas Rice Producers Legislative Group, said getting reforms into a package that the joint committee and Congress can pass is a challenge, but still possible, he said.
Asked if it will provide an adequate safety net for farmers, Raun said, "I hope."
