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Partisan differences set tone for future farm legislation

A university farm policy specialist says the House defeat of the farm bill may have residual effects on getting farm legislation passed.  The future of farm policy depends on lawmakers working together, said Jonathan Coppess, at the University of Illinois.

“What’s going on is troubling beyond the defeat of Friday,” Coppess told Brownfield Ag News, referring to the day the U.S. House voted down the legislation.  “It is troubling for the long-term viability of the farm bill, because we’re tearing apart the coalition it takes to get a bill through Congress.”

A likely short-term fix to turn some of the 30 Freedom Caucus Republicans who withheld support of the farm bill is to get a vote on immigration legislation, said Coppess, adding, however, that that is not a long-term solution.

“The ideal situation would be to go back to the table,” said Coppess, “and work out a bipartisan compromise that addressed legitimate concerns about SNAP, about farm programs, about conservation programs, and work back through that bipartisan effort that we have traditionally done on farm bills.”

Even if a majority gets the farm bill through the House, Coppess says the House and Senate Conference Committee will eventually have to come up with language that will result in Senate passage of the farm bill.

AUDIO: Jonathan Coppess (10 min. MP3)

 

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