Congress reconvenes next week, and they’re facing a tight deadline with the still-unfinished farm bill.
U.S. Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo. 4th District, said finding time to debate the farm bill on the House floor won’t be easy.
“A lot of things expire in September…and when we get back, we’re going to be concentrating on these appropriation bills,” Alford told Missourinet affiliate KDRO. “So it’s (about) finding time on the House floor, basically, to debate and pass the farm bill. We may be looking at a slight extension on that.”
Alford said the farm bill will likely contain about $864 billion in federal spending, stretched out over five years. It includes such things as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, historically known as food stamps. But he said the bill is also crucial for farmers and ranchers in Missouri to be able to stay in business.
“Our farmers need the security to be able to buy the crop insurance to get the loans that they need for their fertilizer, their seed, their fuel,” Alford said. “The cost of those had been rising at a horrible rate.”
Which Alford blames in part on the Biden Administration’s “demonization of the fossil fuel industry.” Congress has until September 30th to get the farm bill to the president’s desk.
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