NACIA Farm Bill Update -- Outlook for Conference
1/09/08

As we previously reported, the Senate passed the Farm Bill in a last-minute flurry of activity before leaving for the Holiday Recess, and in the process incorporated a myriad of amendments (over 150) into a Manager’s Package of Amendments. As a result, the Senate-passed Farm Bill reauthorization legislation had not even been completely written until this past Friday. It is now available on the NACIA website, so if you wish to take a gander at the 1,800 plus page bill, click here.

We now must look ahead to Conference. The Senate is in recess until January 22, so not much is expected to occur on the Senate side until after that date. Chairman Peterson on the House side has taken preliminary action towards Conference, including meetings with USDA. The House returns to session on January 15, but after that week only has approximately two days that it is in session from then until the middle of the first week of February. February is a short month to begin with, and is made even shorter by the week-long President’s Day Recess. In March, Congress is in town the first two weeks, and then leaves for another two-week recess after March 14. This is significant, as the Farm Bill extension included in the appropriations package passed at the end of last year expires March 15.

As you can see, this makes for a very limited amount of time for Conference, especially a conference as difficult as it seems this one will be. Given the large margin by which the bill passed in the Senate, many people believe that the Senate will feel a certain sense of empowerment and insist on the inclusion of many of the provisions from its bill. In addition, neither of the funding mechanisms employed be each Chamber is acceptable to the other. This has created a $15 billion discrepancy that will need to be reconciled in addition to the numerous policy differences between the bills.

Even if Congress does the seemingly impossible again and finishes Conference, there still exists the Administration’s veto threat. Acting USDA Secretary Chuck Connor has taken a very hard-nosed approach regarding the House and Senate bills, stating numerous times that he would strongly recommend that the President veto the bills unless significant changes are made.

It is difficult to predict exactly what will happen at this point, but we will continue to monitor the situation and let you know further news as circumstances unfold. As we have mentioned before, there are provisions in each bill that have the potential to damage the crop insurance program, so we will continue to advocate for our issues as agents and for the strength of the crop insurance program to continue to provide a safety net to our nation’s farmers and ranchers.

Lastly, we would encourage you to start the New Year right and to pay your 2008 NACIA dues, which you can now do online.

As always, if you have any questions or need anything, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Brent W. Gattis
NACIA Washington, Representative