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Texas Agriculture Archive

March 1, 2002

Senate passes farm bill

The Senate passed the farm bill Feb. 13 by a vote of 58-40.

The American Farm Bureau Federation urged senators to vote against final passage because the bill contains an onerous water rights provision. Additionally, AFBF said it was "also disappointed that the Senate voted to impose stringent limitations on farm payments. We believe that action will hurt family farmers, the group that payment limitation proponents say they are trying to help."

Those provisions—entitled the Grassley amendment—would limit payments to individual farmers to $225,000 per year or $275,000 if the wife participates in the operations. House Agriculture Chairman Larry Combest (R-Texas) said he would oppose that provision when the bill goes to conference committee.

"There's no way that the amendment as written is workable," Combest said. "So we will be looking at ways in which we can make substantive changes."

Mary Kay Thatcher, deputy director of AFBF's Washington office, said the conference committee will be a give and take process.

"I think there will be things in there that the House will like and things that the Senate will like and things that we will like and dislike, but I think we've got some very workable provisions," she said.

Combest (R-Texas) called for immediate work to begin on reconciling House and Senate farm bill versions with sights on the 2002 crop year. Combest has directed that working meetings begin immediately without waiting for the formal announcement of members to the House-Senate Conference. The Senate must formally report S. 1731 to the House of Representatives before members of the House and Senate can be named to the Conference Committee for HR 2646, "The Farm Security Act."

During the debate, the Senate agreed to a proposal to appoint four Democrats and three Republicans to the conference committee. The House Committee will probably consist of eight Republicans and six Democrats. Combest will likely lead the House representation. Rep. Charlie Sten-holm (D-Stamford) would be the principal Democratic House member.

Thatcher said she expects the committee to finish in two or three weeks.

"My own guess is that March 22 is sort of the drop dead date. If we don't have it through conference committee and passed by the House and Senate by the 22nd of March when they go home for a two week Easter break, we're probably not going to be able to get it implemented by this administration for this crop year," said Thatcher.

Thatcher said timing is important for another reason as well.

"We have $73.5 billion in new funding to spend over the next 10 years and if we don't spend it by the time we get the next budget resolution, some time around mid-to-late April, we're going to lose that money and have to go back and get it again, and being in deficit spending just isn't the time to have to do that."

Meanwhile, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) told delegates recently at the National Cotton Council's annual meeting that the Senate farm bill was "horrible, and it is an absolute abomination."

She promised there would be a major filibuster of the bill should the House-Senate conference committee fail to adopt a farm program that looks more like 10-year plan passed by the House.

The Bush administration also will offer input during the negotiation process. In a statement released Feb.13, President Bush said he is disappointed in the Senate bill.

"I am committed to sound farm policy that supports America's farmers and ranchers and am disappointed that the Senate passed a bill that doesn't get the job done. This bill front-loads spending into the first five years, leaving vital programs under-funded in the years that follow," said Bush.