The
uncertainty for the passage of a five year Farm Bill in the 112th
Congress came to an end on New Year’s Day with the passage of H.R.
8 The American Taxpayer Relief Act.
The bill was passed to avoid the fiscal cliff, a collection of spending
cuts and tax increases that might have plunged the country into another
recession, and included a 9 month partial Farm Bill extension.
The
extension only includes basic tenants of the Farm Bill and failed to
reauthorize and fund several programs. The National Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition has a blog
post with a very detail explanation as to why the Farm Bill extension is so
awful. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated in his interview
with NPR that those reliant on Farm Bill programs “…are now faced with
uncertainty with how the policies might be, [they are faced with] uncertainty
with how much support will ultimately be available once a five year bill is
eventually past.”
Looking
to the future, Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said in an interview
that she expects to pass a Farm Bill in the coming months. The bill may be
marked up in the Senate committee as early as February and should include a
minimum of $24 billion of deficit reduction. On the House side, Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said during the Agriculture Committee's organizational meeting on January 22nd that "...this is a new Congress and a new opportunity to pass a new Farm Bill." House Ranking Member Collin Peterson
(D-MN) is leading an effort to block a Farm Bill markup without the assurance
from the House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor
(R-VA) that the bill will see floor time. He expressed some of his frustration during the organizational meeting.
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