What’s Going on with the Farm Bill?
May 23, 2018 
Image by USDA
There’s still life in the Farm Bill, despite it being defeated in the House last week. With its wide-ranging funding, it’s a bill that traditionally gets bi-partisan support. Here are a couple reports about what is likely to happen to the farm bill next:
The House Will Consider the Farm Bill Again Soon
The Farm Bill will be back on the House floor within a month, Roll Call reports. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) says the bill will get a second vote on June 22. The timing allows an immigration bill to come to the floor first, an important step, since the farm bill became a political chess piece in a power struggle over immigration.
Immigration Bill Includes H-2C
The immigration bill that caused the conservative Freedom Caucus to defect from the majority vote is the Goodlatte-McCaul bill. It includes a number of conservative objectives, including H-2C legislation from Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA). H-2C aims to restructure H-2A. The bill would also revise current legal immigration, fund a border wall, and create a 3-year renewal process for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (better known as DACA or Dreamers).
Senate Will Still Vote on its own Farm Bill
The farm bill’s defeat complicate’s the Senate version of the bill. It is typically more bipartisan in content. Yet, since the final bill will be a reconciliation between the two houses, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry will often examine the House version closely to help smooth out the reconciliation process.
But now it will have less time to review the House version, if it passes on June 22. The Senate is still on track to release its version in the coming weeks, Food Business News reports.
Subscribe Today For
