House Republican leaders are shifting into high gear to boost support for the farm bill ahead of next week’s planned vote on the package, according to a whip notice obtained by POLITICO on Monday.
Leadership is preparing for a vote on the bill the week of April 27, with an amendment deadline of April 22, as POLITICO first reported.
GOP leadership will be talking to Republican lawmakers on the House floor during Tuesday’s 3 p.m. vote, recommending a “yes” vote on the bill, according to the notice.
The notice sent by Whip Tom Emmer’s floor director emphasizes that the bill is budget-neutral and prioritizes “responsible spending on agriculture,” language meant to appeal to fiscal conservatives who typically oppose spending on the massive package that governs all major nutrition and agriculture programs.
“This bill expands on investments in rural communities, returns science-backed management to our national forests, and restores regulatory certainty in the interstate marketplace,” according to the whip notice. “Interstate marketplace” refers to controversial provisions in the package that would bar states from requiring pesticide labeling that differs from EPA guidance and undo restrictions of livestock sales under laws like California’s Proposition 12.
Those moves have sown division among Republicans and created uncertainty that they can garner enough support to pass the package. House Agriculture Committee staffhave been in private whip talks with other caucus members for weeks since the markup in early March. The bill advanced out of committee in a 34-17 vote.
The whip notice also highlights Republican priorities like efforts to strengthen “Buy American” requirements for school meals and crack down on foreign purchases of U.S. farmland.
Negotiations on the farm bill — which is meant to be reauthorized every five years — have been stalled due to partisan fighting over nutrition and climate-smart agriculture policies. Republicans used a major cut to spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to pay for tax cuts and farm safety net improvements in their massive tax and spending package last year, sparking anger among Democrats.
House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) said in an interview Monday that he doesn’t expect the vote on the farm bill to be delayed due to other legislative battles like the ongoing fight over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
“I have not had any indication” of delays, Thompson said.
