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Agricultural Act of 2014

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Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleTo provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes.
NicknamesThe 2014 farm bill
Announced inthe113th United States Congress
Sponsored byFrank Lucas(R–OK)
Codification
Acts amendedFood Security Act of 1985,Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013,Federal Crop Insurance Act,Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008,Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002,and others.
Titles amended7 U.S.C.: Agriculture
U.S.C. sections amended7 U.S.C.§ 1508,7 U.S.C.§ 450i,7 U.S.C.§ 1926,7 U.S.C.§ 1308,7 U.S.C.§ 2279,and others.
Agencies affectedUnder Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services,Social Security Administration,Economic Research Service,United States Secretary of Agriculture,Agricultural Research Service,United States Department of Justice,Office of the Inspector General,United States Department of Agriculture,United States Agency for International Development,General Services Administration,United States Forest Service,U.S. Customs and Border Protection,USDA, Office of the Chief Economist,Risk Management Agency,Executive Office of the President,United States Environmental Protection Agency,Natural Resources Conservation Service,United States Department of Labor,United States Congress,Farm Service Agency,National Agricultural Statistics Service,Office of Management and Budget,United States Department of Commerce,Commodity Credit Corporation,United States Department of Transportation,Rural Utilities Service,United States Department of the Interior,United States Department of Education,Department of Health and Human Services,Bureau of Land Management,Federal Emergency Management Agency,Federal Crop Insurance Corporation,United States Department of the Army,U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Food and Drug Administration
Authorizations of appropriationsAt least $27,137,750,000 with an additional unlimited amount
Appropriations$1,200,000,000
Legislative history

TheAgricultural Act of 2014[1](also known as the2014 U.S. Farm Bill,formerly theFederal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013) is anact of Congressthatauthorizesnutrition and agriculture programs in the United States for the years of 2014–2018.[2]The bill authorizes $956 billion in spending over the next ten years.[3]

The bill passed in theUnited States House of Representativeson January 29, 2014, and theUnited States Senateon February 4, 2014, during the113th United States Congress.U.S. PresidentBarack Obamasigned the bill into law on February 7, 2014. The bill is considered two years late, since farm bills are traditionally passed every five years.[4]The previous farm bill,Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008,expired in 2012.[5]

Background

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Farm bills

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Main article:United States farm bill

In the United States, thefarm billis the primaryagricultural and food policy toolof thefederal government.The comprehensiveomnibus billis passed every five years or so by theUnited States Congressand deals with both agriculture and all other affairs under the purview of theUnited States Department of Agriculture.It usually makes amendments and suspensions to provisions of permanent law, reauthorizes, amends, or repeals provisions of preceding temporary agricultural acts, and puts forth new policy provisions for a limited time into the future. Beginning in 1973, farm bills have included titles on commodity programs, trade, rural development, farm credit, conservation, agricultural research, food and nutrition programs, marketing, etc.[6]Farm bills can be highly controversial and can impactinternational trade,environmentalconservation,food safety,and the well-being ofrural communities.Theagricultural subsidyprograms mandated by the farm bills are the subject of intense debate both within the U.S. and internationally.

The farm bill was first created during theGreat Depressionto give financial assistance to farmers who were struggling due to an excess crop supply creating low prices, and also to control and ensure an adequate food supply.[7]The first farm bill, known as theAgriculture Adjustment Act(AAA), was passed by Congress in 1933 as a part ofFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal.[8]TheFood, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008is the most recent farm bill, prior to this one.

Provisions of the bill

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The bill includes cuts toSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP), commonly known as "food stamps".[9]According toThe New York Times,the $8 billion in cuts will mean that 850,000 households will lose $90/month in benefits.[9]However, the bill increases funding to food banks by $200 million.[9]SNAP is the largest portion of spending in the bill.[5]The $8 billion in cuts comes from setting a minimum of $20 per year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to receive the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) deduction, disallowmedical marijuanaas a deduction and ruling that lottery winners and persons convicted of certain crimes (murder, aggravated sexual abuse,sexual assault,and sexual exploitation and other abuse of children) can't get food stamps.[10]However, the bill would start a new pilot program to encourage people on food stamps to try to find jobs.[5]

The bill places income caps on farm subsidies, has a price support program for dairy farmers and ends direct payment subsidies, which paid farmers whether or not they actually grew any crops.[9]This subsidy had cost $5 billion a year.[9]The Agricultural Act of 2014 also contained theChristmas Tree Research and Promotion Order,acommodity checkoff programthat established theChristmas Tree Promotion Board.[11]

Spending

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According toBrad PlumeratThe Washington Post,the spending in the bill (FY 2014–2023) breaks down in the following manner:[5]

Area Amount
Food stamps and nutrition $756 billion
Crop insurance $89.8 billion
Conservation $56 billion
Commodity programs $44.4 billion
Everything else $8.2 billion

In total, this spending represents about 2.1% of projected federal spending over that time period.[12]

Congressional Budget Office report

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Effects on direct spending and revenues of the conference agreement on H.R. 2642, as reported on January 27, 2014.

This summary is based largely on the summary provided by theCongressional Budget Officeabout the effects on direct spending and revenues of the conference agreement on H.R. 2642, as reported on January 27, 2014. This is apublic domainsource.[13]

TheCongressional Budget Office(CBO) estimates that direct spending stemming from the programs authorized by the conference agreement would total $956 billion over the 2014-2023 period, of which $756 billion would be for nutrition programs.[13]Relative to spending and revenues projected under the CBO's May 2013 baseline, the CBO estimates that enacting the conference agreement would lower budget deficits by $16.6 billion over that 10-year period.[13]The CBO reported that original House version,Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (H.R. 1947; 113th Congress),would have reduced direct spending by $51.8 billion and increased revenues by $60 million.[2]The original Senate version,Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 954; 113th Congress),would have decreased direct spending by $17.7 billion and increased revenues by $50 million.[2]

Most spending under the legislation would stem from provisions regarding nutrition (title IV), crop insurance (title XI), commodity programs (title I), and conservation programs (title II).[13]

Title I — Commodities. CBO estimates that enacting title I would reduce spending on commodity programs by $14.3 billion over the 2014-2023 period, $3 billion to $4 billion less than under the House- and Senate- passed bills. The conference agreement, as well as both the House and Senate bills, would end fixed payments and certain other existing forms of price and income support to producers. They would all establish new programs that would require producers to choose between price supports or a guarantee of some of their expected revenue.[2]

Title IV — Nutrition. Title IV of the conference agreement would reduce nutrition spending by $8 billion over the 2014-2023 period, CBO estimates. The House-passed bill would reduce such spending by $39 billion over the 10-year period. It includes two provisions not contained in the conference agreement that would reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by restricting the definition of categorical eligibility for the program and reducing the number of waivers from work requirements available for certain adult SNAP recipients. The Senate-passed bill would reduce nutrition spending by $4 billion over the next 10 years, about half the reduction in the conference agreement. It contains a proposal to limit heating and cooling allowances for SNAP participants that is less restrictive than the provision include in the conference agreement.[2]

Title XI — Crop Insurance. The conference agreement's provisions on crop insurance would increase costs by $5.7 billion over the 2014-2023 period, CBO estimates. Total spending for crop insurance over the 2014-2023 period would increase by about $9 billion under the House-passed legislation and by about $5 billion under the Senate-passed legislation.[2]

This estimate does not include the additional discretionary spending for agricultural programs that would result from implementing the conference agreement; such spending would be subject to future appropriation actions. CBO also has not reviewed the conference agreement for intergovernmental or private-sector mandates.[13]

Procedural history

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Agricultural Act of 2014 Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 2642

Legislation in 2013

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Stabenow inAcme Township, Michigancampaigning in support of the bill

The original version of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 was introduced asH.R. 1947byRep. Frank Lucas (R-OK),chair of the House Agricultural Committee, on May 13, 2013.[14]On June 17, 2013,President of the United StatesBarack Obamareleased a statement of administration policy announcing that the Administration "strongly opposes" the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013.[15]The statement provided three specific criticisms. First, the bill would cut some of the funding forSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP), a federal program that provides money for food for low income Americans. Second, the bill would need meet the president's expectations for commodity and crop reforms.[15]Third, the bill would not provide funding for renewable energy. The memo concludes with the statement that "if the President were presented with H.R. 1947, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."[15]On June 20, 2013, the bill was rejected by the House in a vote of195–234.[16]Only 24Democratsvoted in favor of the bill, with most voting against due to its cuts to theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.[16]62Republicansvoted against the bill, defecting from their own party.[16]Comments made by the House Republican leadership immediately following the vote suggested that they had expected more Democratic support. Since they hadn't received it, they indicated they would be rewriting the bill to appeal more to the conservative Republicans whose votes they lost.[16]

In light of the failure of the House version of the farm bill to pass, attention has shifted to focus on the reaction of the House to the Senate-passed draft farm bill, known as the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 954). This is the bill that was introduced into the United States Senate on May 14, 2013, bySen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).[17]The bill was considered on the Senate floor on May 21–23, and June 3–4, June 6, and June 10, 2013.[17]On June 10, 2013, the bill passed in the Senate66-27with support of the president.[17][18][19]Only twoDemocratsvoted against their party:Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)andSenator Jack Reed (D-RI).[19]EighteenRepublicansvoted in favor of the bill.[20]However, the Senate bill failed to pass in the House, so the two chambers organized a conference committee.[21]One of the major provisions of the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 was a $4 billion cut to theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,a controversial provision, with someDemocratsarguing that the cuts were too large, while someRepublicansarguing that the cuts did not do enough to cut the deficit.[22]

The second version of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (version H.R. 2642) was introduced into theUnited States House of Representativeson July 10, 2013, by Lucas.[23]On July 11, 2013, the House voted to pass the bill216–208,after several failed attempts were made to delay or amend the bill.[23]TheUnited States Senatereceived the bill on July 16, 2013. On July 18, 2013, the Senate voted to amend the bill by replacing most of it with language from their proposed farm bill, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013. The amended bill passed the Senate byunanimous consenton July 18, 2013, and the Senate requested a conference with the House on the bill. The Senate selected Senators Stabenow, Leahy, Harkin, Baucus, Brown, Klobuchar, Bennet, Cochran, Chambliss, Roberts, Boozman, and Hoeven as their conferees.[23]

Conference committee

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Eventually, on October 12, 2013, the House agreed to a conference on the bill and conferees were chosen:

On January 27, 2014, theConference Committee reportwas released. On January 29, 2014, the House voted 251–166 to pass the bill.[3]In the House, a majority of Republicans voted in favor of the bill (163–62) and the Democrats split almost evenly (89–103).[4]The Senate then voted 68–32 on February 4, 2014, to approve the full five-year farm bill, sending it to PresidentBarack Obamato be signed into law.[24][25]

Debate and discussion

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Senator Debbie Stabenow argued in favor of the Senate bill because it both reduced the deficit and supported "16 million people who depend on agriculture for their jobs".[19]

The Senate bill was opposed by groups focusing on hunger due to its reduction in spending on food stamps.[22]It was also criticized by groups, includingThe Heritage Foundationfor including a system of crop insurance that were less about helping farmers in the event of a true disaster and more of an income support system.[22]

SenatorJohn McCain(R-AZ) criticized the Senate bill for containing a catfish inspection program that he believes duplicates one that is already conducted by theFood and Drug Administration.[22]

Both Speaker of the HouseJohn Boehnerand Majority LeaderEric Cantorsupported the bill and asked other Republicans to do so.[9]However, both men indicated they would have preferred additional changes.[9]

On January 29, 2014, after passage in the House, it was considered "unclear" what President Obama thought of the farm bill because he had previously "signaled his opposition to any bill that cut food stamps and expanded crop insurance."[9]

Feeding Americasaid that the cuts to food stamps would "result in 34 lost meals per month for the affected households."[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"The Agricultural Act"(PDF).US Congress.Retrieved22 July2023.
  2. ^abcdef"CBO - H.R. 2642 conference version"(PDF).Congressional Budget Office.Retrieved29 January2014.
  3. ^abPete Kasperowicz; Erik Wasson (29 January 2014)."House passes $956B farm bill".The Hill.Retrieved29 January2014.
  4. ^abBernstein, Jonathan (29 January 2014)."Farm Bill Proves Politics Isn't Dead. Yet".Bloomberg.Retrieved29 January2014.
  5. ^abcdPlumer, Brad (28 January 2014)."The $956 billion farm bill, in one graph".The Washington Post.Retrieved29 January2014.
  6. ^CRS Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition – Order Code 97-905Archived2011-02-12 at theWayback Machine,
  7. ^Alison Crissman (12 June 2013)."Senate approves new farm bill".The Daily Iowan.Archived fromthe originalon 25 November 2014.Retrieved18 June2013.
  8. ^Scott Neuman (13 June 2013)."Why The Farm Bill's Provisions Will Matter To You".NPR.Retrieved18 June2013.
  9. ^abcdefghiNixon, Ron (29 January 2014)."House Approves Farm Bill, Ending 2-Year Impasse".The New York Times.Retrieved29 January2014.
  10. ^Agricultural Act of 2014: Sections 4005-4009
  11. ^"As Required by New Farm Bill, USDA to Allow Christmas Tree Research and Promotion Program to Move Forward",press release,United States Department of Agriculture,Agricultural Marketing Service, April 4, 2014, accessed November 19, 2014.
  12. ^"An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024".Congressional Budget Office. 27 August 2014.Retrieved27 November2014.
  13. ^abcde"H.R. 2642 - CBO".Congressional Budget Office. 28 January 2014.Retrieved29 January2014.
  14. ^"H.R. 1947 - All Actions".United States Congress. 20 June 2013.Retrieved20 June2013.
  15. ^abc"STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 1947 – Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013"(PDF).Executive Office of the President.Retrieved20 June2013.
  16. ^abcdKasperowicz, Pete (20 June 2013)."House rejects farm bill, 195-234".The Hill.Retrieved24 June2013.
  17. ^abc"S. 954 - All Actions".United States Congress.Retrieved19 June2013.
  18. ^"STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY S. 954 – Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013"(PDF).Executive Office of the President.Retrieved24 June2013.
  19. ^abcCox, Ramsey (10 June 2013)."Senate passes farm bill in 66-27 vote".The Hill.Retrieved19 June2013.
  20. ^"U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 1st Session - 145".United States Senate.Retrieved19 June2013.
  21. ^"H.R. 2642 - All Actions".United States Congress.Retrieved29 January2014.
  22. ^abcdNixon, Ron (10 June 2013)."Senate Passes Farm Bill; House Vote Is Less Sure".The New York Times.Retrieved19 June2013.
  23. ^abcd"H.R. 2642 - All Actions".United States Congress.Retrieved29 January2014.
  24. ^Rogers, David (4 February 2014)."Congress approves five-year farm bill".Politico.Retrieved4 February2014.
  25. ^"U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 2nd Session".United States Senate.Retrieved4 February2014.

Further reading

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  • Bosso, Christopher.Framing the Farm Bill: Interests, Ideology, and Agricultural Act of 2014(University Press of Kansas, 2017).
  • Orden, David and Carl Zulauf. "Political economy of the 2014 farm bill."American Journal of Agricultural Economics97.5 (2015): 1298–1311.onlineonline]
  • Zulauf, Carl and David Orden, "The US Agricultural Act of 2014: Overview and Analysis." (International Food Policy Research Institute discussion paper 01393, 2014)online
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