House Republicans are building unrealistic expectations in farm country by relying on “counterfeit money” to pay for a $50 billion expansion of crop subsidies and crop insurance in the new farm bill, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The House Agriculture Committee was expected to approve Chairman Glenn Thompson’s proposed bill on Thursday in a vote that would split along party lines.
The five-year bill would cut SNAP spending by $27 billion over 10 years and allow a windfall $15 billion in climate funding to be spent on any conservation project, whether or not it reduced greenhouse gas emissions or captured carbon. Both of those steps would cross red lines drawn by Democrats.
For months, farm-state lawmakers have called for “more farm in the farm bill,” which is dominated by public nutrition outlays. Thompson’s package would increase so-called reference prices, which are the triggers for subsidy payments, by 10 to 20 percent and expand crop insurance coverage. Farm groups have prioritized those goals. The farm safety net needs improvement, they say, because of rising production costs and inflation, despite four years of high net farm income.
“That’s just raising expectations that can’t be met,” said Vilsack during a teleconference. “They [House Republicans] don’t have the resources to do everything they want if they follow the [budget] rules. You can’t finance it on counterfeit money.”
“The sudden rancor,” responded Thompson in a statement, “is nothing more than the latest partisan attempt to divide our committee and slow down progress on passing a farm bill.”
Thompson would pay for increased farm spending by restricting USDA access to a $30 billion reserve. Tens of billions of dollars were drawn from the reserve for trade war and pandemic relief payments to producers in recent years, chiefly during the Trump administration. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says Thompson’s plan would result in savings of $8 billion, far less than the $65 billion, or more, that House Republican staff workers say should be credited. Thompson has asked the House Budget Committee to deem the larger figure correct.
“The Budget Committee has a duty to ensure that CBO’s scores are accurate, timely, and transparent,” said a committee spokesperson. “Chairman [Jodey] Arrington is committed to working with Chairman Thompson and the Agriculture Committee to pass a reliable and responsible farm bill that will provide food security for the United States.”
Agriculture Committee members were scheduled to vote on the GOP-written farm bill on Thursday afternoon, just before a nine-day recess built around the Memorial Day holiday.
“Time is of the essence, and we need to get down to serious business,” said Vilsack, because the new farm bill is eight months overdue. He said the package offered by Debbie Stabenow, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, was the “more practical, let’s-get-it-done, more doable approach.” At the start of this month, Stabenow proposed a 5 percent increase in reference prices, with cotton, rice, and peanuts as the most likely beneficiaries. An escalator provision in the 2018 farm law would benefit other major row crops, such as corn and soybeans.
Congressional Republicans have maneuvered to make the House Agriculture Committee vote the first test of support for large increases in subsidy spending, cuts in SNAP, and redirection of climate funding. Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee have said they will release their framework of ideas for the new farm bill after the House committee votes.
“This is an extreme and extremely partisan farm bill that fails farmers, fails families, and has no chance of being signed into law,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat, on social media, referring to the House GOP bill.
By one estimate, the GOP bill would increase farm subsidy spending by as much as $45 billion, not counting the offset for limiting USDA use of its reserve fund. Crop subsidy outlays would grow by $35 billion. A one-time opportunity to increase “base” acres eligible for subsidies would cost $10 billion.
“The House proposal would increase payments more for Southern and Delta states than for other regions,” because cotton, rice, and peanuts would have much higher reference prices than corn, soybeans, and wheat, said a team of university analysts.
The House Agriculture Committee web page for the Republican farm bill proposal, including a summary and text of the bill, is available here.