The House Agriculture Committee this week canceled tentative plans to draft a new farm bill after Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) sought a commitment that the legislation will be considered by the House with dedicated floor time. “There is going to be no markup in the foreseeable future without it,” said Peterson. The meeting that had been scheduled for February 27 is off.
Peterson sent letters last week to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) saying that, without a guarantee that farm-policy legislation would be debated on the House floor this year, Democrats will not work on a bill. The farm bill will require bipartisan support to pass. Peterson pointed out that the House Republican leaders kept the measure off the House agenda last Congress.
Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said she will likely move forward in February with a markup of a reauthorization for the bill, which is currently operating under an extension included in the recent fiscal cliff deal. But Stabenow agreed that, without cooperation from the House Leadership, the effort would be for naught. Stabenow is backing the effort by ranking Democrat Peterson to refuse to participate in a House Agriculture Committee markup without assurances from House Leadership that the bill will get floor time.
No farm bill meetings have been scheduled on either side of the Capitol, and January and February traditionally have been months where members of Congress are in their respective districts more than they are in Washington, D.C.
