'House lawmakers propose new version of farm bill'
(CQ Today) -- Aides say a new farm bill proposal written by leaders of the House Agriculture Committee will fall flat in the Senate, where members are working on their own deal. Senators, House members and Agriculture Department officials were scheduled to meet late Wednesday to discuss the plan. But senators said earlier that they were disappointed with it and would be offering a more expensive counterproposal. The conflict between the chambers has been brewing for weeks as House Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., and the panel’s ranking Republican, Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, wrote a new version of the farm bill that would cost less than the House- or Senate-passed versions of the bill (HR 2419). By trimming farm subsidies here and there, and eliminating the tax increases proposed to pay for them, Peterson and Goodlatte are hoping to overcome White House veto threats. The administration says the bills passed by both chambers are too expensive, would not do enough to cut farm subsidies and have too many revenue-raising tax provisions. Peterson said his plan, which would require about $6 billion in such offsets, is meant to jump-start stalled negotiations on the legislation. Beyond the tax offsets, the Peterson-Goodlatte draft would trim proposals for spending on farm subsidies. Farmers would not get direct payments, which are paid annually based on what they grow and their total acreage, during the ninth year of the bill’s 10-year projections. Sugar and cotton growers would see some tweaks to their supports. Farmers who earn more than $900,000 a year and make most of their income from farming would be ineligible for farm payments. The House had originally proposed a $1 million limit, and the Senate included a $750,000 limit for farmers making only part of their income from agriculture. The White House has been pushing for even tighter restrictions — a cap of $200,000 a year. The new proposal would provide $8.5 billion over 10 years for nutrition programs. The House-passed bill would allocate $11.5 billion.
(CQ Today) -- Aides say a new farm bill proposal written by leaders of the House Agriculture Committee will fall flat in the Senate, where members are working on their own deal. Senators, House members and Agriculture Department officials were scheduled to meet late Wednesday to discuss the plan. But senators said earlier that they were disappointed with it and would be offering a more expensive counterproposal. The conflict between the chambers has been brewing for weeks as House Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., and the panel’s ranking Republican, Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, wrote a new version of the farm bill that would cost less than the House- or Senate-passed versions of the bill (HR 2419). By trimming farm subsidies here and there, and eliminating the tax increases proposed to pay for them, Peterson and Goodlatte are hoping to overcome White House veto threats. The administration says the bills passed by both chambers are too expensive, would not do enough to cut farm subsidies and have too many revenue-raising tax provisions. Peterson said his plan, which would require about $6 billion in such offsets, is meant to jump-start stalled negotiations on the legislation. Beyond the tax offsets, the Peterson-Goodlatte draft would trim proposals for spending on farm subsidies. Farmers would not get direct payments, which are paid annually based on what they grow and their total acreage, during the ninth year of the bill’s 10-year projections. Sugar and cotton growers would see some tweaks to their supports. Farmers who earn more than $900,000 a year and make most of their income from farming would be ineligible for farm payments. The House had originally proposed a $1 million limit, and the Senate included a $750,000 limit for farmers making only part of their income from agriculture. The White House has been pushing for even tighter restrictions — a cap of $200,000 a year. The new proposal would provide $8.5 billion over 10 years for nutrition programs. The House-passed bill would allocate $11.5 billion.
