Republicans Not Interested In Passing Farm Bill?

Policy

A proposed $40 billion cut to nutrition programs from the U.S. House of Representatives creates a bigger obstacle to farm bill passage.

August 5, 2013

1 Min Read

With claims that Republicans in the House of Representatives are not interested in actually passing a farm bill following the House’s latest proposal that would cut $40 billion from the nutrition title, Senate and House Democrats have expressed their growing concerns about enacting farm legislation before the Sept. 30 deadline.

They also cast some doubt on the likelihood of extending current law and maintaining “subsidies that everyone believes are a waste of taxpayer money.”

Debbie Stabenow, Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman, says the farm bill would be a significant jobs bill and critical for rural America.

Stabenow – who termed the House nutrition program proposals “appalling” -- places the blame squarely on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. “He doesn’t want a farm bill. He’s made that clear from the beginning with everything he’s done.”

She labeled the situation “a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off. It makes no sense. We ought to care about the 16 million people that work in rural America in agriculture and the food industry. Rural America is very important. The biggest jobs bill we will pass this year, or next, will be the farm bill.”

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