Thompson sees another delay in farm bill action
AgLeaders-RFP-011926
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., said here Sunday he doesn’t expect his committee to mark up a new farm bill until late February, as he and the other leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees agreed that Congress should finish the farm bill this calendar year and also update policies on imported farm labor.
Talking to reporters after he and the other three spoke to the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention, Thompson said that there are several reasons for the delay.
He said his committee won’t act until after the House leadership appoints a successor to Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who died recently, and until Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., returns to the committee after a car accident.
Thompson also said the Congressional Budget Office has been slow to complete the score for the bill due to the government shutdown this fall. He said, however, that the committee would release the bill in plenty of time for members to consider it before the markup.
Thompson was part of a rare panel discussion at which all four congressional agriculture committee leaders appeared. Joining him were House committee ranking member Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.; Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., and ranking member Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Thompson and Boozman disagreed on whether the bill is likely to include a measure to restrict California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts Question 3, which place limits on the living conditions of animals raised for food. Thompson said he believes the House bill will include a measure, while Boozman said in a meeting with reporters that it would divide the Senate and make it difficult to pass the bill.
All four leaders agreed that it would be important for Congress to finish the farm bill this year.
Under the questioning of American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, all four agreed that Congress should also update federal labor laws that make it difficult for farmers to bring foreign workers into the United States. The leaders agreed that the borders are now secure and that the border should no longer be a reason not to pass an agricultural labor law that would allow agricultural employers to bring in workers on a year round basis.
