Farm Bill Likelihood
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. There are some doubts out there among lawmakers about the likelihood of getting a new Farm Bill done this year, but there’ also still some hope out there.
I asked U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse if we’re headed towards another 2018 Farm Bill extension but he wasn’t ready to concede …
NEWHOUSE … “Well, as soon as I say no, that’s what will happen, so I won’t make any predictions.”
But Newhouse says they want to get done …
NEWHOUSE … “I understand that the Chairman of the committee, John Boozman from Arkansas, is committed to getting the Farm Bill done. We in the House, sometimes, get frustrated with our colleagues in the Senate. It’s just a different animal over there. They work differently at a different pace.”
Newhouse knows they’re very “deliberate” over in the Senate …
NEWHOUSE … “And it seems like there’s not a lot of things happening, but there are conversations happening amongst the 100 members there. My hope is that we can still get something done.”
Newhouse says when they get back from the break, there will still be enough time …
NEWHOUSE … “You know, we’ve done, I guess you could say, the bulk of the work already. Certainly, the Senate always has a different opinion about certain things, but I think if we could get into a conference situation with the Senate, I think in the short amount of time we could probably get to a solution and come together on a bill that we could send to the president.”
Newhouse doesn’t see it happening before the election, but that it’s more likely to happen in the lame-duck session.
