(CQ Today) -- President Bush says he’ll ask Congress to pass a one-year extension of the farm bill if lawmakers cannot negotiate a new law by April 18. Bush said a one-year extension is not what he wants. But he said in a statement that “the government has a responsibility to provide America’s farmers and ranchers with a timely and predictable farm program — not multiple short-term extensions of current law. Last week, Congress enacted a 30-day extension of the current farm bill, and Bush signed that measure Friday. The president insists he will not sign a bill that includes new taxes. He has also pushed for significant restructuring of agricultural subsidies, a hard sell among lawmakers who represent big farming districts. A squabble brewing between the Senate Agriculture and Finance committees is complicating matters. The Finance panel is responsible for coming up with offsets to support the extra $10 billion in spending, but Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, says those efforts are infringing on his jurisdiction.
