Democrats on Farm Bill
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson. Ag Democrats may be unwilling to pass a Senate farm bill, at least until after the November elections, based on comments at last week’s party-line vote advancing the bill.
The first clue came from Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman …
FETTERMAN … “You know, I have held the line here as a loyal Democrat. And my vote really doesn’t matter, because it isn’t anywhere close to 60, but I am just saying, we’ve got to find a way forward. My office is bombarded and they are desperate to get this farm bill here.”
But top Ag Democrat Amy Klobuchar suggested a deal on SNAP won’t likely come ‘til after the elections …
KLOBUCHAR … “There’s a lot we agree on (in) this bill, that we really can’t afford to not get this done by the end of the year.”
When a lame duck Congress may leave it up to a Democratic next year to write their own farm bill.
Klobuchar insisted a GOP-offered one-year delay in state SNAP penalties is not enough …
KLOBUCHAR … “Especially for those states that are lowering their error rates but are going to get socked with this next year if we don’t find some way, all of us, to come together to get the votes to get this passed.”
Democrat Fetterman lectured his side that the time for fighting is over …
FETTERMAN … “It’s been three years now that it’s late, and two things can be true at the same time here, where you can fight for it, but at some point now, it’s not caving, it’s just saying, America’s farmers are counting on this bill, and we get it out.”
The bill faces a 60-vote Senate threshold and an uncertain path amid expiring farm bill authorities and mounting financial pressures.
