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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

House eyes Farm Bill extension; ranking Democrat says food-stamp deal closer to Senate cuts

UPDATE, Dec. 13: Congressional Budget Office scoring of the proposed compromise on farm subsidies "puts us in good shape," Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow told Rogers, who reports: "Friday’s upbeat tone signaled the focus is already shifting toward preparing other members of the House-Senate conference for votes during the week of Jan. 6." 

UPDATE, Dec. 12: By voice vote, the House passed an extension that would run through January. "Critics contend it is a needless distraction from the task at hand," Rogers reports, "but House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) saw it as a useful step to sooth frayed nerves while he tries to deliver a final bill in early January."

UPDATE, Dec. 11: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would not consider another extension of current farm law. That means the law will revert to a 1949 statute that would jack up dairy price supports and double milk prices, but Stabenow said the Agriculture Department had assured her "that the price spikes would not happen before the end of January," writes Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press.

UPDATE: "Farm bill negotiators conceded Tuesday that they will not finish their work before Congress goes home for the year, but insisted that they are close to a final deal and working toward floor action in early January," Rogers reports. But they may forgo an extension to create pressure for a vote in early January.

A House vote to extend the current Farm Bill for a month or so could occur as early as tomorrow, with one negotiator saying lawmakers are near a deal that can be voted on in January, after the holiday recess that begins Friday. David Rogers reports for Politico, "Speaker John Boehner has already signaled he is open to this option and a vote could come as early as Wednesday on the suspension calendar," which would require a two-thirds vote.

This would be the second extension of the Farm Bill since it expired 15 months ago, Rogers writes. "But the circumstances now are very different. Last year at this time, the House had yet to even act on a farm bill and a long-term extension was needed through this past September. The legislative process is much farther along now—albeit still tortured. And there is a genuine hope that a House-Senate conference can report a Farm Bill back for final action in January." (Read more)

Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., "one of four House and Senate negotiators working behind the scenes on a compromise between the two chambers, said the framework of a farm bill deal could be finished before the House adjourns for the year on Friday," Kyle Potter reports for the Fargo Forum. "Peterson said the negotiators have agreed on how much to cut from food stamps – one of the largest sticking points between the House and Senate. Peterson declined to provide a number, but said the deal hews 'substantially closer to the Senate’s' targeted cuts of $4 billion over the next decade rather than the House’s bill, which would slash $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program."

Peterson, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, told the Forum, "I think it will pass the Senate, but I cannot guarantee you it will pass the House. They are not going to be happy with the food-stamp cuts.” Peterson said he is confident he can get 'yes' votes from at least half of House Democrats. (Read more)

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