The Senate voted (67-31) this morning to proceed to a vote to pass a 6-month continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded at FY 2012 levels through March 27, 2013. The final vote will likely occur sometime this weekend, slowed down by several procedural moves related to votes on extraneous matters. It may take […]
Budget and Appropriations
Bill Introduced to Assist Farmers in Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Proceedings
This week, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Family Farmer Bankruptcy Tax Clarification Act of 2012 (S.3545). The Act is intended to overturn the ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court case Hall v. United States, a case that addressed the status of government claims for taxes in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy […]
Revised Version: Obama Administration Details Sequestration Cuts
On Friday, September 14, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a preliminary outline of how it would implement automatic budget cuts (known as sequestration) across government programs, as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). In early August 2012, Congress passed the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, which forced the Obama […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Not Now, Maybe Later; And Meanwhile, Conservation Programs Shut Down; Sequestration Cuts to be Revealed
Congress returned this week from its summer recess with questions abounding on the fate of the 2012 Farm Bill. After less than one short week in session, a bad situation has unfortunately grown worse, not better. Conservation Programs Shut Down On Thursday, September 13, the House approved a “continuing resolution” (or CR for short) to […]
Continuing Resolution Would Stop Key Conservation Programs in 2013
On Monday evening, September 10, the House Rules Committee posted the Continuing Resolution (CR) agreed upon by congressional leaders to fund the government for the next six months. The bill is expected to be voted on in the House on Thursday and in the Senate after that. The overall goal is to avoid a government […]
Poll Finds Farmers Oppose Cutting Conservation to Fund Drought Assistance
Last week, the National Farmers Union (NFU) released a poll confirming that farmers believe conservation programs are vital in helping to deal with drought. Two research firms (one Democratic and one Republican) polled 502 farmers across 13 states in the American Heartland and found that an overwhelming 79 percent of respondents view conservation programs as […]
New Data Shows CSP Support for Farmers Tops EQIP Support in Key Agricultural States
As enrollment in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) tops 50 million acres later this month, more and more producers are conserving soil, water, wildlife habitat, and other critical resources across the country through this stewardship incentive program. In fiscal year 2011, the value of CSP contracts exceeded the value of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) […]
House and Senate Leaders Agree to Extend FY 2012 Funding Levels
On Tuesday, July 31, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced that the House and Senate had reached a deal on a six-month continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded at FY 2012 levels through March. It has been reported that the CR will be a “clean extension,” […]
Path AWAY from a 2012 Farm Bill: Pending House Extension Dooms Farm Bill Programs
For the past two days we have reported on the surprise move by the House Republican leadership to pull the rug out from under the 2012 Farm Bill. Rather than complete its business by taking the farm bill reported out of the House Agriculture Committee to the floor and then to conference with the Senate-passed […]
Congress Mulls Continuing Resolution, Sends Sequestration Bill to the President
As the highly contorted farm bill process continues to unfold, Congress is simultaneously working in abnormal ways to address important budget and appropriations matters. Neither the full House nor the full Senate has yet to pass an agriculture appropriations bill for FY 2013. Both chambers did, however, begin to address the looming matter of budget […]
House Appropriations Committee Passes FY13 Ag Funding Bill
On Tuesday, June 19, the House Appropriations Committee passed its FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee passed on June 6. The full Committee bill, which we outlined in detail in an earlier post, is nearly identical to the Subcommittee bill. However, the Committee did adopt a number of amendments, including: An […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Bill Hangs in Balance
UPDATE: Tuesday, June 19, 2012: the Senate will begin voting on amendments today. Take action now! Consideration of the 2012 Farm Bill moved ahead this week but progress in the Senate was slower than agriculture committee leaders had previously expected. It is unclear whether and by which path the bill moves forward next week, and […]
House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Passes FY2013 Funding Bill
UPDATED: June 18, 2012 On Wednesday, June 6, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee approved its FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill. The spending bill covers the majority of the functions of USDA as well as the Food and Drug Administration. In late April, we happily reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2013 agriculture appropriations bill […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Update on Timing of Farm Bill Senate and House Actions
Below we provide our best guess about updates on the timing of the next steps for the farm bill in the Senate and House. Senate Little has changed from what we reported last week in terms of our best guess for the timing of the Senate 2012 Farm Bill floor debate. When the Senate returns […]
Senate Farm Bill Reported and Budget Scores Released; NSAC Analysis
On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its version of the the 2012 Farm Bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, by a vote of 16-5. Exactly four weeks later, on May 24, the Committee actually reported the text of the bill. It is normal for there to be a lag […]
House Budget Committee Adjusts Spending Cap
In a quirky turn of events, the House Budget Committee on Monday modified its decision to use $1.028 trillion as the top-line discretionary spending cap for the House for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Instead, the Committee temporarily adjusted the spending cap to $1.047 for the first three months of the 2013 fiscal year (Oct.-Dec. 2012), […]
Farm Service Agency Continues Close Scrutiny of Loans to Contract Poultry and Hog Producers
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides guaranteed loans and direct loans to farmers for the purchase or operation of their farms. FSA can provide lenders with a guarantee of up to 95 percent of the loss of principal and interest on a guaranteed loan. FSA has a duty, both to the public and to farmers […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Markup – Funding Levels
Note to Readers: This is the fifth in a series of posts on the 2012 Farm Bill reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26. How does the version of the 2012 Farm Bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee stack up against the farm bill budget recommendations made by the National […]
Senate Committee Approves 2013 Agriculture Spending Bill
On Thursday, April 26, while the Senate Agriculture Committee was busy passing their version of the 2012 Farm Bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee was also meeting to approve the Fiscal Year 2013 Agricultural Appropriations bill. The spending bill covers the majority of the functions of USDA as well as the Food and Drug Administration. We […]
House Sets Government Funding Allocations
On April 19, we reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee had approved discretionary spending allocations for the coming 2013 fiscal year. The size of the total spending pie, as laid out by the Committee, was completely consistent with the levels set by law in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Today, the House Appropriations Committee […]
Senate Divvies Up Discretionary Funding Pie for 2013
On Thursday, April 19, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved discretionary spending allocations for the coming 2013 fiscal year. The size of the total spending pie was completely consistent with the levels set by law in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The agricultural appropriations slice of the pie was set at $23.357 billion, nearly the […]
House Agriculture Committee Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill, Announced Farm Bill Hearings
On Wednesday, April 18, the House Agriculture Committee passed a budget reconciliation bill on a partisan vote that proposes to cut $33.2 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over ten years. In its fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget resolution, the House Budget Committee directed the House Agriculture Committee to cut $33.2 billion over […]
Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: Senate Writes a Farm Bill
The Senate Agriculture Committee is on track to meet its timeline for marking up a farm bill later this month. Agriculture staffers in the Senate have been meeting throughout the two-week Congressional Easter recess to discuss issues and proposals. The Senate Agriculture Committee leadership is writing a draft of the farm bill – known as […]
30 Organizations Deliver Letter to Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees
On Wednesday, March 28, 30 national conservation organizations delivered a letter to the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees, urging members to “oppose cuts to mandatory agricultural conservation programs in the fiscal year 2013 agriculture appropriations legislation.” The letter notes that since 2002, “the Conservation Title has been uniquely and disproportionately targeted for appropriations cuts” and […]