The 2023 farm bill is expected to be drafted for a markup in mid-September. It might be considered by the House before some provisions of the current farm law expire on September 30, though demands for floor time are substantial, and the deadline is tight.
The bill will not likely include further work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beyond those stated in the recently approved debt ceiling bill. House Ag Committee Chairman, G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) envisions SNAP as a workforce development program and prefers using incentives to shape participants’ shopping habits.
Despite the farm bill’s challenges, Thompson aims to achieve as many approving votes as possible from both parties. Further, he’s ensuring new representatives are familiar with the bill’s complexities before the vote, to avoid misunderstandings and flare-ups on the House floor.
Thompson, along with other members, is also seeking additional funding sources for the bill, but that will likely be the biggest farm bill hurdle that may trip up lawmakers.
Prepare for big changes in the farm bill
The committee says they plan a mid-September markup of a draft farm bill once the text is ready after August recess. The top four members of the House and Senate Ag committees urged CBO to ramp up staffing to address a backlog of scores for proposed changes to programs the upcoming farm bill, according to a letter.
The letter, addressed to the leaders of the congressional Budget committees and CBO director Phillip Swagel, said the Ag committees have “become increasingly concerned at the volume of outstanding requests” for scores related to the farm bill.
Lawmakers said they “expect several hundred more preliminary scores will be needed before each chamber, and eventually, the Congress, has a farm bill completed for final scoring.”
To address the concerns, the members said CBO and the Budget committees should “use all available resources and authorities to ensure CBO can reorganize staff to prioritize farm bill requests, hire or contract additional staff, or find available qualified professionals who can be assigned on detail.” They added that new hires or detailees should have experience in scoring farm bill-related programs.
Thompson also said that the timeline could be met in getting the bill done by the end of September if the Senate would follow the House schedule.
“There would be no need for an extension if the Senate would get their [farm bill version] done in the same timeframe I’m talking about,” he observed.
Farm bill bottom line
Thompson acknowledged on Tuesday that Congress would likely need to extend the existing farm bill due to delays caused by unrelated legislation. This marks his first explicit admittance that legislators will miss the imminent deadline, as some of the authorizations from the 2018 Farm Bill are set to expire by the end of September.
As his previous comments signaled, Thompson’s prediction seems to stem from assessing the Senate’s progress, being further behind in drafting its version of the farm bill than the House.
