Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts has set a date for introducing the Senate Farm Bill, with full debate to take place the following week.
A Feedstuffs Dot Com article says Roberts made the announcement at a farm bill forum in his home state, alongside Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue and fellow Kansas Senator Jerry Moran. Roberts says he has a clear path to bringing the bill to the floor of the Senate, as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised he won’t file cloture on the bill, a potential hurdle that could delay consideration. Roberts did reiterate that the House version of the farm bill wouldn’t pass in the Senate because he’ll need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster.
The House version, which hasn’t passed yet, is still relying solely on Republican votes to get through the chamber.
Roberts also said the Senate version won’t be proposing any major changes to SNAP, but could possibly look into “some efficiencies we can make as to how that program is run.” He also mentioned that the Senate bill will “fix the ARC program to some degree.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.