FARM BILL UPDATE

House, Senate Successfully Override White House Veto of Incomplete Farm Bill

  The House and Senate this week successfully voted to override the President's veto of HR 2419 - an incomplete version of the 2008 Farm Bill missing its trade section due to a clerical error in the House Speaker's office.  Ag leaders on both sides of Capitol Hill were quick to point out that with the successful override votes, the new provisions included in the 14 titles of HR 2419 are now law. "Most of the Farm Bill is now law and the Administration can begin implementing the new programs and policies immediately," said House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D, MN) and ranking member Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA).  However, this means trade title programs, including cooperator funding, export promotion, food assistance programs and other trade provisions are in limbo until both chambers pass a "repaired" Farm Bill. 

On May 22, the House took that action and passed a complete Farm Bill (HR 6124) as originally agreed to in conference committee. The Senate was unable to take action on the "repaired" bill before it left on its week-long Memorial Day recess, so it will take up the complete package early the week of June 2.  However, while the House was able to pass the complete package under suspension of its rules, a move that permitted no amendments, the Senate faces a growing number of critics on the GOP side of the aisle who want to see changes in the bill, primarily to remove costly earmarks unrelated to farm programs.  Attempts to remove earmarks in the Senate are unlikely to be successful given its overwhelming initial approval, but at least one Senator is known to be threatening a "hold" on the bill - preventing the chamber from taking any action to pass the newly restored Farm Bill.

In an embarrassing bureaucratic blunder - now sucking up precious House and Senate floor time -- the House enrolling clerk "inadvertently" dropped the trade title from the bill (HR 2419) sent to the White House and subsequently vetoed by President Bush.  House Democrats wanted to simply reinsert the trade title and send the bill back to the White House, but the House parliamentarian objected.  Further complicating the situation, the House had already voted 316-108 to override the veto, despite GOP recommendations to hold off on the floor action.  The "snafu," discovered by the White House after the President vetoed the bill, derailed the House and Senate's legislative schedules, delaying a House vote on the FY2009 budget.  Dodging a bullet, if the budget resolution had passed before the "new" Farm Bill was approved, critics could have tried to force a cost analysis against the new budget numbers, which potentially could have totally derailed the Farm Bill package.  Said the White House about the "congressional Farm Bill foul up:"  "We believe this would be a perfect time to fix the earmarks, budget gimmicks and increased subsidies to wealthy farmers. Congress should also take the opportunity to fix the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program...ACRE will subject American taxpayers to billions of dollars in more payments to farmers already enjoying profitable years."