The House cleared a 30-day extension of the nation's farm law last week, buying House and Senate negotiators more time to complete a deal on a long-term agriculture policy overhaul.
The chamber cleared the short-term bill (S 2745) by voice vote March 12. The Senate had passed the measure earlier in the day, also by voice vote.
The extension is the second temporary reprieve since the last major farm bill was enacted in 2002 (PL 107-171). The current three-month extension, which was included in last year's omnibus appropriations bill (PL 110-161), expires March 15.
Negotiators have been working for months to reconcile competing versions of a new multi-year farm bill (HR 2419), and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
Enhanced Coverage LinkingHarry Reid, -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
News, Most Recent 60 Days
D-Nev., said they were "making progress."
Both Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., stressed that the short-term extension of existing law was no substitute. "We can't leave here without doing a farm bill," he said.
"This extension we just passed was regretfully necessary," agreed McConnell, "but it doesn't lessen in any way the need to get a farm bill."
Their efforts, however, have been slowed recently by the illness of House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., who was hospitalized for almost a week beginning March 4 with flu-like symptoms. Rangel is a key negotiator, along with his Senate counterpart, Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., in the search for new revenue to pay for extra spending for farm programs.
The negotiators have agreed to spend $10 billion more than the $280 billion the Congressional Budget Office says current programs would require over the next five years. The farm bill covers agricultural subsidies, conservation programs, food stamps and alternative energy incentives. But all the additional spending must be offset with cuts elsewhere or new revenue.
On March 11, top farm-state lawmakers met to discuss the spending but did not come up with a deal. "It has been a challenging process, to say the least, for our negotiators," McConnell observed.
Box Score
Bill:S 2745 -- Temporary extension of federal farm aid programs.
Latest Action: Senate passed the bill and House cleared it, both by voice vote, March 12.
Next Likely Action:President signs.Congressional Quarterly Weekly
