Getting closer

I'm sorry I couldn't stay in Washington until the farm bill deal is done, but I need to get home by May. But, as I write this in Reagan National Airport, Sen. Harkin says the House and Senate are "getting closer." We'll take him at his word...

Senate farm bill conferees led by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate-House conference committee on the farm bill, today presented to House conferees a farm bill proposal of $10 billion in additional spending for the farm bill, including funds for disaster assistance. The framework maintains the investments of the Senate-passed bill with strong farm income protection as well as investments in nutrition, conservation and renewable energy and a program to provide disaster assistance to farmers. The proposal is deficit neutral and includes tax package that has been a priority for Senate conferees. A formal conference will reconvene next week to further discuss the proposal.
“The clock is ticking to complete a new farm bill and with just one week to go before the extension expires, we must reach agreement,” said Harkin. “The Senate has now presented two good offers to the House that strengthen farm income and disaster protection and fill in gaps in nutrition assistance, invest in farm-based renewable energy, help farmers and ranchers conserve our natural resources, and devote substantial new funding to initiatives for growers of fruits, vegetables and horticultural crops. We are getting closer, but we still do not have agreement.
“Staff will continue to negotiate over the weekend and I have every hope that resolution will be reached. If not, as Chairman of this Conference, I intend to start calling for formal votes of the conference committee next week. It’s time to finish this bill, so I urge House conferees to consider this framework and negotiate in good faith so that we can meet our impending deadline.”
Details of today’s proposal are available at http://agriculture.senate.gov/.