Prospects for a Farm Bill before year’s end may be looking brighter. As congressional leaders continue working through differences, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman says recent conversations with farmers have upped the urgency. He says key lawmakers are actively engaged in negotiations and that momentum continues to build.
“As we speak, the four corners, the ranking and chair of the committee in the House, committee in the Senate, their staffs are meeting, trying to work out our differences. We’ve had good success in doing that. We’ll have a few things that we can’t agree on. We’ll push those up to leadership and see how we decide. But we’re close, and I think that we’ve got an excellent chance of getting this done. We’ve got this narrow window to get this done. And if we’re not careful, we’re going to lose the farm bill, not get it done. And then also the year reprieve that we’ve given to the states, that we want to give to the states. If we don’t get this passed, and it might even be a little bit more than that, we’ll have to wait and see. But this reprieve will go away, and then our states will immediately have to start paying significant sums of money. So, lots at stake, and I think it’s going to have a lot of support.”
Boozman believes that that reality can help drive a compromise, including with Minnesota Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee.
“I think that there is an incentive for her and really the rest of the members of the Ag Committee in the Senate and in the House to get this done, in the sense that she’s from a huge farm state. She understands better than anybody how difficult it is out there. And looking at the fact that we’ve changed over, we’re going to have so many new members. The idea of starting a new farm bill, getting organized, starting a new farm bill from scratch, that’s a lot of work. And we’ve been working on this thing for three or four years. And so, I think she wants to get it done. I know she wants to get it done. And, you know, I think the average member of Congress wants to get it done. So, yeah, there’s all kinds of reasons. The biggest reason is that if any person has talked to a farmer lately, they understand that it just doesn’t pencil out, that they’re really struggling.”
One of the remaining sticking points involves Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cost-sharing requirements for states. When asked if Republicans would compromise with Dems on their request for a two-year delay, Boozman says.
“I’m open to talking and doing whatever we need to do. I’m not saying that we would change it. I’m not saying that we wouldn’t. Again, I think I can fairly say that both sides are working in good faith to come to an agreement. And this is about – it’s not about giving more money to SNAP as recipients. This is about making states responsible. There’s no excuse, no excuse at all, for having 20% plus error rates in some of our states. And we’re not saying get it down to zero. We’re saying get it down to 6%. There’s no business person in America that wouldn’t immediately have words with or fire whoever was, you know, in charge of the bills to overpay somebody 20% or 6%. That money could be used for the people that are actually entitled to it on the lower end that desperately need it.”
While lawmakers focus on finishing the current bill, the committee is also preparing for changes in its membership. Several longtime agriculture advocates will be gone at the start of the new session.
“And right at the top of the list is Senator McConnell. He’s been on the committee since he first came to Congress and has been such an active member. And it’s great to have senior members like that on the committee to push things forward. Joni Ernst from Iowa, you know, has been a huge member of our committee. Tommy Tuberville from Alabama will be leaving us. Senator Durbin on the other side, again, is somebody that’s been very helpful, you know, in the sense of talking things through. Senator Klobuchar, I’ll miss her a lot. She’s a good friend and somebody that, you know, she and I have been able to do some really important things together in the past. So the list goes on and on. And I’m grateful that we’ve had the opportunity to have relationships with people like that. As far as new folks, I don’t really know because we haven’t done the committees yet. So I’ll be looking forward to that. And the thing that I preach, and to her credit Senator Klobuchar does too, agriculture should not be about Democrats and Republicans, not about a Democratic farmer or a Republican farmer, you know, people that just desperately need help now.”