04/29/08 Farm Bill agreement

Farm Bill negotiators are back at work today after they reached a basic deal on spending offsets and the controversial tax legislation. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus sees a light at the end of a very long tunnel and so does House Ag Committee chairman Collin Peterson. BACUS "The financing, the offset is all worked out through the tax package, the offset is pretty well worked out and we're now working on the rest of the farm program." PETERSON "We can get this done before the eighth of May and have it to the President hopefully by the 6th." The bill still spends 10-billion above budget offset. Nutrition is hiked again, this time to 10.3-billion. The Senate keeps permanent disaster aid but cuts it to just below four-billion dollars. Peterson says direct payment cuts in the first four years would be restored in the fifth year of the bill. PETERSON "We may or may not continue direct payments at that point or we may have WTO deal that makes us change things at that point. We want to keep the baseline for agriculture." The 1.4-billion dollar tax package is fully paid for by paring the ethanol tax credit six-cents, boosting the cellulosic credit to a dollar, dumping a biodiesel extension in this bill and other tax savings. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott