Washington, DC — (RI) — Iowa Republican US Senator Joni Ernst says there appears to be a breakthrough in negotiations on the Farm Bill.
Ernst is the only Iowan on a conference committee that’s been struggling for weeks to reconcile House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill. A provision championed by Iowa’s other Senator, Chuck Grassley, is not in the final deal. It would have imposed limits on farm subsidy payments to NON-farmers. Republicans in the HOUSE had been pressing for new work requirements for food stamp recipients. That’s not in the final version either.
Ernst says the Republican leader in the senate who decides which bills get debated has assured her a vote on the Farm Bill will happen in the Senate in December.
The Farm Bill expired October 1st. If congress fails to pass a replacement by December 31st, the NEXT congress would have to start at square one in drafting a bill and first pass it through COMMITTEES in the House and Senate before votes could be taken in the full House and Senate.
