Ag Policy Blog

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she's not likely to support the farm bill and Republicans should figure out on their own how to come up with the 218 votes needed to pass the bill. Pelosi and Democrats are going to draw a hard line on the $20.5 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The House Rules Committee went until midnight in getting their final list of amendments to debate. Staffers apparently went much longer in to the wee hours of the morning to post information afterwards. (All I wanted to do was watch game six of the NBA Finals last night... Oh, my Spurs let me down at the end.)

Under the amendments approved, the House floor will determine whether there should be more scrutiny for farm program and crop insurance payments than now.

An amendment with several backers from both parties would make significant changes to crop insurance programs. Spearheaded by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and others, the amendment "Limits premium subsidies to those producers with an AGI under $250,000 and limits per person premium subsidies to $50,000 and caps crop insurance providers’ reimbursement of administrative and operating at $900 million and reduces their rate of return to 12%. Introduces transparency into the crop insurance program."

At least part of that amendment will get a second round of votes. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., introduced another amendment on transparency in crop insurance. "Requires the government to disclose the names of certain persons and entities receiving federal crop insurance subsidies. Specifically, disclosure would be required for Members of Congress and their immediate families, Cabinet Secretaries and their immediate families, and entities of which any of the preceding parties is a majority shareholder."

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. "Reduces farm program payment limits, capping commodity payments at $250,000 per year for any one farm. The legislation also closes loopholes in current law to ensure payments reach working farmers, their intended recipients."

Fortenberry and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., also would ensure conservation compliance measures are tied to crop insurance as well.

One of the more puzzling amendments that will get a floor debate comes from Georgia Republicans. It would eliminate farm-program payments for corn delivered to ethanol plants. Specifically, the language states "Ensures that corn growers who sell their crop for ethanol production may not receive farm payments. Prohibits a producer on a farm that sells corn, directly or through a third party, to an ethanol production facility from receiving any farm bill payments or benefits."

So basically you cut out anyone in Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois from getting farm program payments? It seems illogical, but nonetheless the amendment will get a vote in the coming days.

The House floor will also get to ask the question of why "natural stones" need a checkoff program.

A couple of issues that one be debated on the floor: One, there will be no "egg amendment" to create a national standard for egg cages. There were not the votes in the Rules Committee for that amendment to make it to the floor. Another amendment that didn't make the cut would have reinstituted the ban on horse slaughter. That amendment also wasn't advanced by the Rules Committee.

The full list of amendments up for debate can be found at http://majorityleader.gov/…

I can be found on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

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