Efforts apparently afoot to file farm bill
January 24, 2014 | 12:38 PM
Congressional farm leaders are struggling to file a farm bill conference report by early next week, Politico and The Hill have reported.
Farm bill conferees have been warned that they may need to return to Washington on Sunday for briefings in anticipation of a conference meeting Monday, Politico reported today, although the publication also noted that the offices of key negotiators declined to confirm that a meeting is planned.
A key aide involved in the House-Senate negotiations told The Hagstrom Report today, “We continue to work through some of the outstanding issues, and timing of things is still uncertain.”
Another said, “Check back in with me in a few hours.”
Filing a conference report Monday might still allow the House to vote on the bill by Wednesday when that chamber will go out of session for the Republican House members’ retreat, although there would be criticism that the House leadership is rushing consideration of the legislation.
If the House were to pass the conference report, it would then move to the Senate, which will be in session.
The biggest issues are still the dairy program and payment limits, the two publications reported
In addition, Agriculture.com reported that even though Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., continue to push for strict payment limits in the bill, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is encouraging the conferees to leave the issue up to the Agriculture Department.
Farm bill conferees have been warned that they may need to return to Washington on Sunday for briefings in anticipation of a conference meeting Monday, Politico reported today, although the publication also noted that the offices of key negotiators declined to confirm that a meeting is planned.
A key aide involved in the House-Senate negotiations told The Hagstrom Report today, “We continue to work through some of the outstanding issues, and timing of things is still uncertain.”
Another said, “Check back in with me in a few hours.”
Filing a conference report Monday might still allow the House to vote on the bill by Wednesday when that chamber will go out of session for the Republican House members’ retreat, although there would be criticism that the House leadership is rushing consideration of the legislation.
If the House were to pass the conference report, it would then move to the Senate, which will be in session.
The biggest issues are still the dairy program and payment limits, the two publications reported
In addition, Agriculture.com reported that even though Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., continue to push for strict payment limits in the bill, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is encouraging the conferees to leave the issue up to the Agriculture Department.
