Getting a September farm bill in time to replace expiring law appears less likely as difficult House-Senate negotiations will now stretch into the final week of the month. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a farm bill conference committee member, says in an Omaha World-Herald editorial, House-Senate negotiators are now “running into problems” hashing out differences over farm subsidies, conservation support, and food stamp work requirements.
But the House and Senate are now recessed for a religious holiday until next week when the two bodies will be in session together for just four days. Is it time for an extension, one reporter asked Iowa’s senior Senator Chuck Grassley this week.
Less Likely to Get Farm Bill Done in Time
But that’s obviously two-weeks after current law expires, during which only mandatory spending, like farm payments and food stamps, would continue.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.