Agriculture continues to watch the outcome of the elections for the impact it could have on the debate on the new farm bill. Republicans appear to be closing in on a slim majority in the U-S House. Meanwhile the Senate is too close to call...with a race in Georgia going to a runoff.
If Republicans gain control of the House that will shift the leadership of the House Ag Committee to Pennsylvania’s G.T. Thompson. But election watchers like Jessica Schulken, Principal, with The Russell Group says with such a narrow majority it will make compromise the key for writing a new farm bill because Thompson can’t assume he’ll have all the Republican votes he’ll need to pass the legislation. “He’ll then need to look at his ranking member Mr. Scott and cut a deal with him and so what you will likely see is maybe a little more of a compromise farm bill because there will have to be some more Democratic involvement than there may have been otherwise.” But she says Thompson has different priorities than Scott with less emphasis on research and climate smart ag and more on the farm safety net and overall spending cuts.
Schulken says Senate control is still up for grabs based on three key races, but it will be a slim margin either way. “In the Senate, you know it takes 60 votes to pass anything. So, what you’ll see come out of the Senate, sort of across the board is a more bi-partisan bill than what you’ll see in the House.”
She says if Democrat Debbie Stabenow retains leadership, she’ll defend IRA funding. But even if Republican John Boozman takes over, the focus will be on the nutrition title of the farm bill, which has seen rapidly rising costs since the 2018 bill. According to Schulken, “Overall over a 20 to 25% increase to SNAP costs, so there’s certainly going to be pretty significant looks at if there’s a way to reign any of those in.” In fact, Schulken expects whoever controls Congress to try to slow the runaway spending that starting during COVID, which will impact all ag programs.
The Senate Ag Committee isn’t missing a beat with leaders Stabenow and Boozman announcing a series of hearings on the farm bill starting next week. So, they’ll be getting right to work even though who’s in the majority won’t be known until early next month.
