Negotiations on legislation
that will drive US agriculture spending for the next five years are now in full
swing in Washington, after the Farm Bill was opened for debate on the Senate
floor last Thursday. Observers, however, note that the politics of the 2012
presidential election will likely pose major obstacles in moving the
legislation forward.
The Senate Farm Bill - termed
the Agricultural Reform, Food and Job Act of 2012 - aims to cut US$24 billion
in agricultural spending over the course of ten years. The negotiations on
support, particularly for crops favoured by farmers
in Southern states, are widely expected to drive the upcoming debate. More than
200 amendments to the bill have been offered thus far in the negotiating
process, though not all of them will be debated or accepted.
The Republican-dominated House
of Representatives is currently drafting its version of the Farm Bill in the specialised committee on agriculture. Unlike its
counterpart in the Senate, the committee has not yet finalised
a bill, but is expected to do so in the coming weeks. The House has yet to
schedule its own debate on the Farm Bill on that chamber’s summer agenda.
In the US political system,
both chambers of Congress - the House and the Senate - must agree to a bill
before it can become law; any legislation also requires presidential approval.
Election
politics putting bill at risk, some say
With the US presidential
election scheduled for November, some Farm Bill proponents
fear that the bill may become wrapped up into a broader discussion on
government spending that is only likely to intensify in the coming months, and
thus hope to pass the new legislation ahead of any new federal budget battles
or campaign-driven sparring.
The election year dynamic
already appears to have seeped into the Farm Bill debate, with Democratic Party
leaders such Senator Harry Reid of Nevada charging that Republican
intransigence against the bill is a strategy aimed at “kill[ing]
job-creating bills in the hopes of harming the economy and hurting President
[Barack] Obama.”
Economic conservatives, on the
other hand, have called the bill “agribusiness as
usual,” arguing that the new crop insurance programme
merely supplants the direct payments that have been eliminated as largess to
farmers.
Another group of activists
would like to see a more systemic overhaul of the bill that shifts support away
from large-scale production of agricultural commodities towards fruits and
vegetables, among other nutritional, social, and environmental objectives.
Uncertain
prospects
Experts that have spoken to
Bridges over the course of the year have expressed doubts about the ability of
Congress to pass a complete bill in 2012, often adding a word of caution on the
unpredictability of the process. For example, Senator Rand Paul, a Republican
from Kentucky, objected to a vote on the bill this past Wednesday in the
absence of an amendment cutting off aid to Pakistan. The country has come under
criticism for prosecuting a physician that may have helped the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) locate Osama Bin Laden.
Observers of the Farm Bill
process note that any delays on the Senate side could kill the bill in that
chamber and potentially stymie progress on its House counterpart, a result that
could lead to chaotic consequences when the legislation currently in effect
expires on 30 September.