Tight Budget Reign As Lamawkers Look Ahead To 2018

2018 will be another year of tight budgets in Washington D.C., especially after the passage of a sweeping tax overhaul bill.  That will also likely mean less money to write a new Farm Bill.  The 2014 farm bill was challenging to write but the 2018 bill could be even more difficult.  Longtime Senate Ag Committee member Chuck Grassley was asked recently about a farm coalition request for more research funding.

“Do I support more money for research? The answer is yes.  But we’ve got 38 programs that don’t have money in the baseline.  And probably if we’re going to put some money in to any one of these 38 programs, it’s going to have to come out of farm programs.”

Ag lawmakers cut some $25 billion in spending in the last Farm Bill, a sum that grew to over $100 billion in actual savings.  Grassley said the new Farm Bill  will likely have an even tighter budget, forcing very hard choices.

“And I think maintaining the safety net is the number one goal of the ag committee and the number one goal of people who are writing the next Farm Bill.  So, it’s like a balloon, you squeeze and air comes out someplace else.  You’ve got so much money in the balloon and we have to operate within that.”

But that won’t stop the requests.  The pork industry, for example, wants millions for a national FMD vaccine bank, while conservation and energy groups want more for their programs.  And, of course, the perennial fight over nutrition funding will continue, though increased employment has taken a bite out of food stamp rolls.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com