Where's the beef?
As I was listening to the House subcommittee markup on nutrition today, one of the representatives started to complain about the reserve money(or lack thereof) in the farm bill. I don't have a recording of the exchange, but he objected to the fact that lawmakers were debating nuances in programs that have been allocated funds that don't even exist; so called reserve or contingent dollars. Where will the money come from?
Well, House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson has said that repeal of oil company tax breaks could net a couple of billion dollars, but beyond that, it seems to be an open question. Will lawmakers eventually point out the king is wearing no clothes? If raiding commodity programs is out - and raiding nutrition programs is certainly out of the question - where will the money for f/v priorities come from?
We should know more about Peterson's plan by the end of the month. Somehow, some way, Peterson's $2 billion in offsets must grow to something like $20 billion. The good produce people will say then, "Where's the beef?"
Labels: Collin Peterson, Farm Bill, FDA
posted by Tom Karst @ 1:19 PM
1 Comments:
This is what many, many people are asking, and not just of the House. The oil and tax break repeals passed by the House are specifically tied to renewable energy projects, and this giant energy bill currently under consideration also is looking at those funds. Additionally, those repeals have not passed the Senate and the administration has threatened a veto.
Another great article from Chris Clayton of DTN on this subject is here:
http://www.agobservatory.org/headlines.cfm?refID=98964
Secretary Johanns is essentially encouraging f/v producers to oppose any farm bill without real money for produce. The cynical among us would say that the Secretary is trying to foment a little division because the House version of the farm bill is shaping up to be nowhere near what the administration would like.
I'd say you can look for lots of deal-cutting to occur in the week between the markup of the commodity title and full committee hearings.
Both the House and the Senate are going to have real challenges keeping everyone happy, and from my perspective it's about time our elected representatives made some tough decisions. Obviously, many politicians feel making those decisions is a calamity to be avoided at all costs. I would not be surprised if at some point in the upcoming process we again hear rumors about an extension of the current farm bill, if only for the possibility there may be more money available a year or two from now.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home