(CQ Today) -- Farm-state lawmakers have not rejected the Bush administration’s latest funding proposal for the farm bill, but they say there is still plenty of work to be done. The ideas include recovering overpaid unemployment benefits, reducing reimbursements on equipment covered by Medicare and repealing research-and-development money for deepwater drilling. The proposal, which the department sent to Congress Feb. 29, stated that the White House would allow lawmakers to spend an extra $10 billion over 10 years in the farm bill (HR 2419) as long as the measure also included a significant overhaul of farm subsidies. The administration’s letter lists 13 spending cuts totaling about $22 billion; the idea is that lawmakers will choose the most politically feasible cuts on the list. President Bush has threatened to veto both the House and Senate versions of the bill, calling them too expensive and saying that they propose tax increases. The Bush administration says it still rejects a House provision that would end farm subsidies for any farmers who earn more than $1 million a year and make most of that money from farming. The White House wants that cap reduced to $500,000. The administration also is demanding that the bill end so-called planting restrictions. Current farm law prevents farmers who collect government subsidies, such as corn and soybean farmers, from also planting fruits and vegetables on their subsidized land. That mechanism keeps produce prices high, and fruit and vegetable growers have fought to keep the perk intact. The White House also is asking lawmakers to remove language in the House and Senate bills that would allow excess sugar to be used for ethanol, which could provide a boost in sugar prices.
