From the President’s Chair Key Issues Pending in Washington Two issues of particular interest to the cooperative family are pending in DC – passage of a farm bill and immigration reform. The Senate has advanced both a 5-year farm bill, complete with all of the traditional titles, and a comprehensive immigration reform package. The US House, as of press time, has advanced a farm bill without including the “food stamp” program and is likely to approach immigration in a piece-by-piece manner. Farm Bill Many in the ag community are pushing for resolution of a 5-year farm bill ahead of the Sept. 1 expiration of the current 1-year farm bill extension. The Senate has approved their 5-year proposal, complete with standard ag and nutrition provisions, though some programs have been tweaked and funding adjusted. The House failed to pass their comprehensive package. In an effort to advance some measure to conference, the chamber narrowly passed a version that omitted food stamps and repealed the tie-back to the 1949 “permanent law”. The 216-208 vote split mostly down partisan lines with 14 Republicans joining Democrats as “nay” votes and only Republicans voting for the measure. Generally, 218 votes are needed to pass but 216 was a majority of those in attendance on July 11, so it was enough to advance the measure. The House’s action to bifurcate food stamps from the farm provisions is historic. Farm bills have encompassed the growing of agricultural products and dietary assistance since the 1970’s when Bob Dole, then a Republican House member, and Senator George McGovern, a Democrat, crafted a combined bill. The combination was designed to give urban legislators a reason to support farm programs and rural legislators a reason to support food stamps. Since then, every farm bill until now has had bipartisan support. Removal of the provisions that return farm programs to the 1949 “permanent law”, should a farm bill expire without extension, is also controversial. That provision is seen by some as archaic but others consider it a threat that forces lawmakers to actually come up with a new plan. Questions have been asked, from both a parliamentary and political standpoint, regarding the possibility of the final conference report containing food stamp provisions. Procedurally, it does seem possible, at this time, that food stamps can be melded into a final conference package, even though it did not pass the House. Another option is for the House to actually pass a food stamp bill so they have a solid position from which to conference. Conventional wisdom predicts the Senate will not even consider a farm bill absent food stamps. July is drawing to an end as I draft this column and lawmakers will break for their traditional summer hiatus from DC during August recess, so time is of the essence to construct a conference package ahead of the Sept. 1 expiration of the current extended bill. Immigration The Kansas Cooperative Council has, for years, fought against over-burdensome, state-level immigration proposals. We have continually advocated for federal government reforms that ensure a viable workforce for agri-business and agriculture. The KCC encouraged support for S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, as a means of moving forward on comprehensive reform. Carefully crafted agriculture provisions are included within S. 744. The ag package is the result of near-historic negotiations between ag members of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) and the United (cont. pg. 10)
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