Boehner aide: Farm bill needs to save money even though it is not in budget deal
December 09, 2013 | 05:03 PM
Farm bill negotiators still need to create savings in the bill even though the budget deal that Congress is near does not take those savings into account, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told The Hagstrom Report today.
Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees have made plans to reduce commodity, conservation and food stamp spending in the new farm bill ever since the bill was proposed as part of the super committee budget process two years ago, but the budget deal that Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., are finishing does not seem to use any farm bill savings as an offset to reduce cutbacks in other areas.
A few weeks ago, Boehner told reporters he had instructed Ryan not to use farm bill savings and that he considered the farm bill and the budget deal separate.
Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, told The Hagstrom Report at that time that Boehner did not want the farm bill savings included because he believed that Murray and Ryan would be aiming for only a small deal.
Although the details of the Murray-Ryan deal have not been announced, it does appear to be a small deal that will make it possible to avoid some of the automatic sequester cuts that would go into effect in January, particularly for the military, but not a big, long-term deal that would substantially reduce the deficit.
After Boehner’s comment, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is also a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a conferee on the bill, told The Hagstrom Report that she did not understand Boehner’s view and asked why the Agriculture committees had been working so hard to create savings if they would not be taken into consideration.
There have been some reports that House Democrats are pushing for inclusion of the farm bill savings as an offset in the budget deal.
Asked today what motivation the Agriculture committees would still have to create savings in their bill, Steel said, “We have a $16 trillion national debt.”
There has been speculation that it would be easier to reach agreement on the farm bill than on a budget deal, but now it looks like a small budget deal is easier to achieve before the House leaves Friday until early January. The Congressional Budget Office was said to be finishing scores on farm bill proposals today, but a key lobbyist said that House and Senate Agriculture committee aides had not released any scores late today.
Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees have made plans to reduce commodity, conservation and food stamp spending in the new farm bill ever since the bill was proposed as part of the super committee budget process two years ago, but the budget deal that Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., are finishing does not seem to use any farm bill savings as an offset to reduce cutbacks in other areas.
A few weeks ago, Boehner told reporters he had instructed Ryan not to use farm bill savings and that he considered the farm bill and the budget deal separate.
Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, told The Hagstrom Report at that time that Boehner did not want the farm bill savings included because he believed that Murray and Ryan would be aiming for only a small deal.
Although the details of the Murray-Ryan deal have not been announced, it does appear to be a small deal that will make it possible to avoid some of the automatic sequester cuts that would go into effect in January, particularly for the military, but not a big, long-term deal that would substantially reduce the deficit.
After Boehner’s comment, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is also a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a conferee on the bill, told The Hagstrom Report that she did not understand Boehner’s view and asked why the Agriculture committees had been working so hard to create savings if they would not be taken into consideration.
There have been some reports that House Democrats are pushing for inclusion of the farm bill savings as an offset in the budget deal.
Asked today what motivation the Agriculture committees would still have to create savings in their bill, Steel said, “We have a $16 trillion national debt.”
There has been speculation that it would be easier to reach agreement on the farm bill than on a budget deal, but now it looks like a small budget deal is easier to achieve before the House leaves Friday until early January. The Congressional Budget Office was said to be finishing scores on farm bill proposals today, but a key lobbyist said that House and Senate Agriculture committee aides had not released any scores late today.
