Farm Bill Delay

Farm Bill Delay

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. The farm bill is meeting with further delays as the timeline for the current law winds down just seven months away. House Ag Chairman Michael Conaway put the delay on while trying to find more support for farm and nutrition programs.

Representative Dan Newhouse says he's not on the ag committee, but what he hears is that they're working to resolve those hot-button issues ...

NEWHOUSE ... "But, I do know that the nutrition programs are probably, of the farm bill, the most controversial and the chairman's been working for three years holding like two dozen hearings on food nutrition to really try and bring the sides together. I think that if he's delaying moving forward, that's an indication of his continuing effort to accomplish that."

But, Newhouse says he's confident Chairman Conaway is doing everything he can to get this done ...

NEWHOUSE ... "I know he wants to get a farm bill done this year and we have some time, you know this is only March and I think if we can get that done before the other one expires, the last one would be this fall. So, I'm not concerned about that. I think it just indicates his continuing hard work in bringing together something that's as close to a bipartisan agreement as possible."

Newhouse says it was important to get a budget finalized before putting the finishing touches on the farm bill.

He says if they can come to terms on what to do with the food stamp program, a farm bill shouldn't be too far behind.

The next government funding deadline is March 23rd.

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