Federal lawmakers delayed releasing text of a continuing resolution to fund the government as they struggle to reach an agreement ahead of a Friday deadline, with economic assistance for farmers being a sticking point, The Hill reported Sunday.
Text of the continuing resolution (CR), which would keep the federal government funded at current levels, was supposed to be released Sunday. It was expected to include another one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill because the parties are unable to agree on a longer-term plan. But lawmakers also raised prospects of potential add-ons to the funding plan to provide economic assistance for farmers.
"I am distressed by the news that the planned government funding bill to reach the House floor this week will not include funding for our farmers and ranchers," Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, posted Saturday on X. "The agricultural community is the backbone of not just TX-17, but our entire nation. I will vote NO to any Continuing Resolution that does not include economic support for our farm and ranch families."
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees agricultural funding, said Saturday the GOP is backing a proposed package of $12 billion of relief for economic losses and $16 billion in weather-related assistance to be attached to the CR, according to The Hill.
"While we have kept this proposal clean of potentially partisan additions, we have not yet received the Democratic support we need," Hoeven said. "We encourage the nation's farmers, ranchers, and agriculture stakeholders to let their representatives know how critical it is for the continuing resolution to include both economic and weather agriculture assistance for America's producers."
But Democrats are blaming Republicans for rejecting a $10 billion offer that would provide "needed economic assistance and increased conservation spending for decades."
"For weeks, congressional Democrats have provided a pathway to a farm bill extension that will deliver tens of billions of dollars in economic assistance and investments in farm bill programs that farmers rely on," said a joint statement Saturday issued by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chair of Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., ranking member of the House Agricultural Committee.
The American Soybean Association said Saturday in a news release it will "oppose any supplemental spending package that does not provide meaningful assistance to farmers who need help now to stay afloat in 2025 and beyond."
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, told The Hill that "the last two years have seen the greatest drop in income in history."
"Our farmers right now are in a situation where, because input costs are so high and the commodity prices are so low, they're not breaking even," he said. "They're losing money," adding that the economic assistance could be crucial to helping farmers get "through this year."