Members of the House Agriculture Committee approved a letter to the chamber’s budget writers that asked for full funding of USDA programs, so they can write a strong 2018 farm bill. Chairman Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican, said he aimed for a committee vote on the bill in March and the lead Democrat on the panel, Minnesota’s Collin Peterson, said he expected attempts during floor debate to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the bill.
President Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget package calls for $265 billion in USDA cuts over 10 years, chiefly in crop insurance and food stamps. Conaway, seeking a “budget-neutral farm bill,” said his committee will “evaluate all options and determine what is the best policy.”
Conaway said he was in the final stages of the first draft of the farm bill and awaited CBO estimates of the cost of some proposals. “Still plan to mark it up next month” and move to floor debate “as quickly as we can,” he said. There will be a robust and open amendment process during committee work. When reporters asked later for a timeline for the bill, Conaway said the bill would move when he was sure it had enough support to pass.
Peterson said the request for a budget-neutral bill meant there was no need to cut the food stamp program. “[Republicans] say they won’t but we’ll see,” said Peterson after the meeting.
The 2014 farm bill is forecast to cost $100 billion less than expected, partly because the food stamp program has cost less than expected. Some analysts say the savings were a result of lower-than-expected food prices. Grocery prices fell during 2016 and 2017.
In the letter to the House Budget Committee, the Agriculture Committee pointed to “significant savings” on public nutrition. “We anticipate taking this fiscal success into full account as we work to develop bipartisan fiscal policies in the 2018 farm bill that will continue to ensure that all American families have enough to eat.”
Conaway and Peterson said they hoped to agree on a draft of the farm bill and to release it soon. “It is important that we are united in opposition to cutting our programs,” said Peterson.
To watch a video of the six-minute Agriculture Committee meeting or to read the annual budget letter and other committee materials about it, click here.