National Hog Farmer says the fiscal year 2018 budget proposed by Republicans and passed by Congress is a step forward toward possible tax cuts.
Republicans will be able to use a procedural move that lets tax legislation be passed in the Senate with 50 votes. The goal of the Trump Administration and Republican leaders is to get the tax bill done by the end of the year.
The fiscal year 2018 budget is estimated to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. The 2018 budget won’t require any reductions in farm bill spending.
The already-passed House version requires $10 billion in cuts over the next decade. The Senate budget didn’t include any required cuts. That’s good news as the House and Senate Ag Committees work on a new farm bill using the existing baseline.
Funding is going to be a huge challenge in the farm bill as 37 expiring programs in the current farm bill do not have funding beyond 2018. Some of the expiring programs deal with conservation, bioenergy, trade, rural development, and more. The committees will have to find new funding for the programs to continue.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.