WASHINGTON -- The House and Senate Budget committees released and passed budgets that could lead to cuts in spending on farm programs, but the two budgets were different, leading to questions of whether they ever will become government policy.
In theory, the two chambers of Congress should agree on a budget, which would give instructions to the other congressional committees on how much to spend for fiscal year 2016, which begins Oct. 1, 2015. Congress could also pass a reconciliation bill to cut government spending with a goal of reducing the deficit, but that bill would require President Barack Obama's signature and it is likely to contain measures that would lead him to vetoing the bill.
But there are so many differences among Republicans in the House and Senate that it will be difficult for Congress to agree on a budget, even though Republicans are in the majority in both chambers.
The House budget would ask the House Agriculture Committee to cut $1 billion from programs within its jurisdiction over 10 years, but also calls for turning food stamps into a block grant to the states in 2021.
Farm, conservation and nutrition groups say there should be no cuts because the 2014 farm bill included $23 billion in savings over 10 years. The groups are united in their opposition to cuts because each group thinks a cut in one program -- food stamps, for example -- would lead to cuts in the other programs.
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House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders also oppose any cuts to farm spending.
The Senate budget does not include instructions to the Senate Agriculture Committee to cut spending but still assumes there would be cuts to food stamps and agriculture programs to balance the budget in 10 years.
The Senate budget does not propose to turn food stamps -- formally the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP -- into a block grant to the states as the House budget goes.
But the Senate budget does assume "welfare" spending will go down and there will be cuts to what the budget calls "income security" programs. The Senate budget also contains a "welfare trust fund."
The Senate budget organizes the government's activities into broad categories of defense, nondefense, mandatory and discretionary spending.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a group that advocates for small, environmentally minded farmers, said it is thankful the House budget asked only for a $1 billion cut, but "Given the proposal is now officially on the table, we intend to support amendments to strike any farm bill re-opening and, should those fail, intend to endorse amendments that support meeting the reconciliation target through farm program subsidy reform."
The same group said "We are pleased the draft Senate resolution contains no reconciliation instructions for the Agriculture Committee.
"We hope, by the time the final resolution is crafted, the House will agree with the Senate to leave the farm bill alone in the budget resolution. The appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016, though, remains the focus of our attention, as it too can be used to re-open the farm bill, as in fiscal year 2015. We encourage the farm bill coalition to come together once again and oppose all such moves."
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Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is also a member of the Senate Budget Committee, urged the Senate to remain firm in negotiations with the House not to make any cuts in farm bill programs.
