Senator Pat Roberts speaking with students on the Washburn University campus. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)Republican Kansas Senator Pat Roberts says he isn’t satisfied with the pace of negotiations on the farm bill. He says the U.S. House and Senate may be divided on issues such as food stamp funding, but the process needs to move forward so farmers can plan for the future. Closed-door meetings have resumed in Washington between a handful of members of the conference committee. Roberts says he wants public meetings to continue.
Significant commodity price increases could result if legislators don’t craft some kind of agreement before next month. Likely the earliest that the U.S. House and Senate conference committee can meet is next week, when the Senate reconvenes.
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Republican Kansas Senator Pat Roberts says he isn’t satisfied with the pace of negotiations on the farm bill. The legislation is in a conference committee where negotiators will try to work out differences between versions passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports.
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The farm bill has actually already expired. That means some programs will end later this month and prices for commodities like milk will go up if there isn’t some kind of agreement. Roberts says the U.S. House and Senate may be divided on issues such as food stamp funding, but the process needs to move forward so farmers can plan for the future. Closed-door meetings have resumed in Washington between a handful of members of the conference committee. But Roberts says he wants public meetings of the full committee to continue.
“We have to work it out, and if we can’t do that, shame on us. I’m not happy with the current farm bill, but I do know that in the interest of certainty and predictability, farmers need to know this,” says Roberts.
The U.S. House of Representatives is already back in session. The Senate will reconvene next week, meaning that may be the earliest that the full conference committee can meet.