House Committee Passes Farm Bill with Crop Agent Inflation Adjustment

On By Jon Gentile, Chief Advocacy Officer

On May 24, the House Agriculture Committee, led by Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA), passed H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, by a vote of 33 to 21. The bill passed with the unanimous support of Committee Republicans, along with the support of four Democrats, Representatives Yadira Caravao (D-CO), Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Don Davis (D-NC), and Sanford Bishop (D-GA). In advance of the markup, PIA sent a letter expressing our strong support for the bill.

Many of the bill’s provisions, like boosting crop reference prices, expanding opportunities for producers to obtain new base acres, and increasing support for specialty crops, will strengthen programs within the Farm Bill.

PIA is especially pleased by the inclusion of provisions to fix a major problem—administrative and operating (A&O) inflation indexing—that has plagued crop insurance agents for years and that PIA has been actively advocating to correct. Specifically, we urged the Committee to include provisions of PIA-supported H.R. 8055, the Ensuring Access to Risk Management Act, in the main text of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act. The bipartisan H.R. 8055, introduced by Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) with original cosponsors Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Tracey Mann (R-KS), would reinstate an inflation adjustment factor for the cap on A&O and establish a minimum A&O reimbursement rate for specialty crop insurance policies. These provisions will help stop the financial crisis that crop insurance agents have faced since the inflation adjustment was eliminated nearly a decade ago.

Next Steps

PIA will urge the full House to vote in favor of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act as soon as possible. Despite some Committee Democrats voting to support the bill, the fact remains that the most Democrats in the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate oppose aspects of the bill, particularly those related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Congress also faces a limited amount of time remaining in this session to negotiate an agreement between the chambers and get the resulting bill signed into law.

Given the ideological distance between House Republicans and Senate Democrats over key issues in the bill, another extension, beyond its current September 30 expiration date, will likely be needed for many programs in the Farm Bill.