Farm Bill Advances on Slim Bipartisan Vote

(HOUSE AG CHAIRMAN GLENN "GT" THOMPSON WITH LOCAL CONGRESSMAN MIKE BOST DURING A VISIT TO EFFINGHAM COUNTY)

BY TAMMIE SLOUP FarmWeek

In a narrow bipartisan vote, U.S. House Agriculture Committee members Thursday greenlighted the GOP-submitted farm bill, laying the path for the legislation to be debated on the full House floor.

After 13-plus hours of discussion, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 was approved by a vote of 33-21. Illinois committee members Eric Sorensen, D-Moline; Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro; and Mary Miller, R-Oakland voted yes, while Democrats Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, and Jonathan Jackson, D-Chicago, voted no.

Many of the committee Democrats were critical of “pay-for” items that would be used to offset the legislation's cost, citing a preliminary estimated funding gap by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

On Wednesday, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack slammed the GOP bill during a press call, saying it "overpromises" by creating "counterfeit money" to pay for the proposals to boost farm safety net funding and farm subsidies.

Vilsack also has "deep concerns" about proposed restrictions on the ag secretary’s use of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). Those restrictions, Republicans estimate, would offset other program boosts with $53 billion in savings over 10 years. However, the CBO estimates the savings at $8 billion, far short of the needed funding, Vilsack said. 

During remarks Thursday, Thompson said he continues to work with the CBO to "correct erroneous assessments," and stressed the estimates are not final. 

Vilsack called Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow’s, D-Mich., proposal a “practical, doable, get-it-done farm bill.”

Both Thompson's and Stabenow's bills would fold $14 billion in federal climate-smart dollars into the conservation title baseline, but the two continue to clash over where to install the guardrails when it comes to reallocating the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) conservation dollars into the farm bill.ld, and Jonathan Jackson, D-Chicago, voted no.

With some lines clearly drawn — as evidenced during the markup — it's unclear if a farm bill will be approved by Congress' one-year extended deadline of Sept. 30. Debate grew heated at times, much of it related to nutrition spending.

The legislation, released by Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., on May 17, provides the most significant investments in the farm safety net since 2002.

The nearly 1,000-page bill would increase reference prices for all row crops, however, Budzinski and Sorensen said enhancing crop insurance over a boost in reference prices is preferred by farmers in their districts.

"The substantial increase in reference prices for southern states does nothing to help my farmers back home," Sorensen said. "I believe we need to level the playing field for Midwestern producers who are more susceptible to drought, flash flood and heat."

While many farmers enroll in Title I subsidy programs, Budzinski said Illinois farmers rarely receive payments.

"And that's the way they like it. They farm for the market. They farm not to earn subsidies but to sell their product," she said. "I would never want to favor growers of any certain region over another and I'm sorry to say this is what I see in this bill."