Debbie Stabenow unveils farm bill a year after deadline

But this go-around relies on $1.5 trillion legislation that sets agricultural and nutrition policy every five years: it’s been in effect for more than a year, chief Democratic architect Stabenow is retiring, and the Republicans will soon control Washington.

“The foundation of any successful Farm Bill is the cohesion of the broad bipartisan Farm Bill coalition,” Stabenow said in a statement. “This is a strong bill that invests across agriculture, helps families put food on the table, supports rural prosperity, and keeps this coalition together.”

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), the top Republican on the panel expected to take over as chairman when the Republican majority takes power in January, called the legislation and its timing “insulting.”

“A partisan proposal released at the last minute, 415 days after the current farm bill expired, is insulting,” Boozman said in a statement. “American farmers deserve better. »

Industry opponents, such as the National Pork Producers Council, called Stabenow’s proposal “unsustainable because it fails to address California Proposition 12,” which regulates the confinement of breeding pigs. .

Conversely, MAZON, a nonprofit that fights food insecurity, came out in favor of Stabenow’s bill, saying “the stakes are simply too high for Congress to do anything else.” better than supporting those who are at risk of going hungry.

The 1,397-page text comes just weeks before the end of Stabenow’s three-decade career in Congress, amid pressure to reauthorize a comprehensive five-year government funding bill badly needed in the lame duck session. Additional spending in Stabenow’s legislation includes $20 billion for a disaster “safety net” for farmers, an additional $8.5 billion for SNAP and a base increase of about 5 percent. of reference prices of raw materials, according to a summary. The House version increased those benchmark prices by 10 to 20 percent.

But, facing significant partisan hurdles, lawmakers appear more willing to move forward for the second year in a row with another one-year extension of policies first passed in 2018.

House Republicans on their agriculture committee, with the help of a handful of Democrats, advanced their version of the farm bill in May. Republicans have opposed increasing food stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, an entitlement that accounts for more than 80 percent of the bill. The two parties have also clashed over climate change funding and support for raw materials.

Stabenow had previously suggested Washington Examiner she would rather pass another extension of the last farm bill she helped craft in 2018 than accept changes she couldn’t support.

“I have an incentive to do a good bill. I have no incentive to introduce a bad bill,” she said in May.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was elected Stabenow’s successor in a battleground contest that was one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. Poised to become the top Democrat on agriculture once Republicans take power is Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who said Stabenow’s “strong” legislation will “strengthen the agricultural safety net , will support rural America, invest in conservation efforts and help families. put food on the table.

TRUMP’S CABINET PICKS: WHO WAS HIRED TO SERVE IN THE PRESIDENT-ELECT’S ADMINISTRATION

Ahead of the November election, a majority of House Republicans banded together to urge Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to make reauthorization of a five-year farm bill a top priority, which would , according to his office, is among their top year-end priorities.

“Farmers and ranchers do not have the luxury of waiting until the next Congress for passage of an effective farm bill,” the Republicans wrote to Johnson.