Washington Insider -- Wednesday

By DTN's Washington Insider

Here's a quick monitor of Washington farm and trade policy issues from DTN's well-placed observer.

House Bill Would Increase Power of Legislative Branch

A bill introduced in the House would require Congress to approve any rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that would have a significant effect on the U.S. economy. The legislation, introduced by House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., is titled "The Stop the EPA Act of 2014."

In addition to requiring any new rules to be reviewed by Congress before they could take effect, the Graves measure also would require that EPA immediately halt the rulemaking process on any new rules until the agency first completes an economic impact statement regarding all of its current regulations. Unfortunately, the proposal does not include any provision for additional funds for EPA to complete those economic impact statements.

The Graves bill would allow some EPA rules to go into effect without first being vetted by Congress provided that the president first certifies that the rule would address an "imminent" threat to health or safety or other emergency; to enforce criminal laws; address national security threats; or implement an international trade agreement. And even then, the rule could go into effect for only 90 days.

The bill stands no chance of becoming law, but it will allow House members to vent on an easy target in the days leading up to the November elections.

***

House Appropriators Considering Details of a Possible Continuing Resolution

Congress is now down to just 20 legislative days before the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. By that time, both chambers will need to either approve individual appropriations bills covering the next fiscal year or pass a continuing resolution that will keep the government running for a while into FY2015.

Earlier this week, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers told the press that with time running down and with the floor schedule jammed with "a lot of other bills … [a continuing resolution is] under discussion."

Rogers said difficulties with getting the fiscal 2015 spending bills to the House floor before the August recess may compel Congress to decide soon on whether to prepare an omnibus measure that would fund the government through FY 2015 or a continuing resolution that would fund it for a shorter period.

Meanwhile, prospects in the Senate are even gloomier. Rogers has managed to bring six of the 12 spending bills to the House floor, where they were approved. But Senate appropriators have yet to pass even one spending measure so far.

***

Washington Insider: Who Supported the Farm Bill?

The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is out with an analysis of the lobbying effort that went into the passage of the recent farm bill. It says that it found that some 600 companies spent roughly a half billion dollars to lobby lawmakers during the two years the bill was debated. These firms include some of the nation's largest, and they span banking, trade, transportation and energy as well as non-profits worried about food stamps and global hunger.

The center collected and analyzed congressional lobby disclosure forms from 2012, when work on the bill began, through the first quarter of 2014, when the bill was passed and signed. The information is hard to interpret because these groups often spend part of their effort on other issues — and, the disclosures are self-reported. Nevertheless, the center's report indicates the clout these groups carry in Washington.

And, some of the amounts spent by the largest players are mind-boggling, observers suggest. For example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest overall spenders on Capitol Hill, spent $146.5 million during that two-year period and regularly lobbied on the farm bill — although not all of that money was spend on that legislation, of course.

In another example, the American Bankers Association, one of the groups that will benefit from the bill's shift away from direct payments to subsidized crop insurance, reported spending $14 million on lobbying, including advocacy for crop insurance and other rural lending plans, the center reported.

To no one's surprise, the farm bill became one of the toughest battles yet in this era of legendary partisan bickering, and will be perhaps the sixth most heavily-lobbied bill of last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Initially expected to be updated and passed by 2012, the bill became a target for budget hawks aiming to trim the food programs. Congress was unable to move the bill and the programs were granted two extensions before the bill was finally approved in early 2014 –– after conservatives in the House failed at an attempt to separate food stamps from the other titles of the bill.

Still, the bill as passed includes a $16.5 billion cut in the projected growth in spending, including $14 billion to subsidy and commodity programs, $8 billion from nutrition and $4 billion from conservation programs, the center said.

But crop insurance was bumped up by $6 billion after lawmakers agreed to drop the direct payments of the past. Once crop insurance emerged as the safety net centerpiece, banks and insurance companies spent at least $52.6 million in lobbying this farm bill and other issues during the 2012-14 time period, according to the data. Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, spent approximately $11.3 million. The company's Rural Community Insurance Services, the largest crop insurance provider in the country, will benefit.

"Crop insurance has a bright future and will remain a key component of farmer and rancher risk management portfolios," Christy Seyfert, Wells Fargo's government relations director wrote in a 2013 newsletter.

Other lobbyists for crop insurance included Independent Community Bankers of America, ACE INA Holdings and Zurich, both global insurance companies, the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, and Deere & Co., the large equipment manufacturer that also has a crop insurance arm.

However, the policy shift to crop insurance has strong critics, as well as supporters. For example, just as it fought the direct subsidies of the past, the Environmental Working Group fought to limit the new crop insurance. The day the president signed the bill last February, Craig Cox, EWG's senior vice president of agriculture and natural resources, said any savings created by ending the direct-payment program was lost and "will be even worse for taxpayers and the environment."

"The new law also locks in profits for crop insurance companies and their agents," Cox said in a statement. "Meanwhile programs that feed hungry families and reward good stewardship of the land get shortchanged."

Given the two years delay, the competing interests and the partisan polarization on the current legislation, the future of farm legislation now is seen as murky, at best. Other trends like climate change, water problems, and greater competition of the international markets could play a role in future farm bills, said Bill Hoagland of the Bipartisan Policy Center. Crop insurance will also be watched to see if it is effective in maintaining farmer income, he observed.

The image of the current lobbying linkages also will be watched carefully, the center predicts since even strong urban and rural coalitions of the past have fallen apart, especially when the Midwestern role in pushing the bill became muddled by regional differences and corporate interests continue to influence policy.

The current farm bill coalitions are criticized by many observers by their lack of focus on growing global markets and their heavy reliance on government intervention. Thus, the future combination of government costs and export market growth likely will watched very carefully by farm bill supporters and critics alike, and likely will significantly affect future policies and future support for the sector, Washington Insider believes.

---

Want to keep up with events in Washington and elsewhere throughout the day? See DTN Top Stories, our frequently updated summary of news developments of interest to producers. You can find DTN Top Stories in DTN Ag News, which is on the Main Menu on classic DTN products, on the News Menu on Farm Dayta, and on the News and Analysis Menu of DTN's newest Professional and Producer products. DTN Top Stories is also on the home page and news home page of online.dtn.com.

If you have questions for DTN Washington Insider, please email edit@telventdtn.com

(CC)

Copyright 2014 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.