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NCGA
Accelerates Momentum on Shaping New Farm Bill (6-06-01)
The early reviews
are in, and the consensus of policymakers in Washington is that NCGA's
bold and innovative counter-cyclical income support proposal deserves
serious consideration.
Since NCGA unveiled
its farm bill proposal in testimony before the House Agricultural Committee
on April 25, reaction from federal agencies, Capitol Hill offices and
other commodity groups has been encouraging.
In the last month,
NCGA has been busy briefing Administration officials, congressional
leaders and other farm groups on the merits of our proposal. The time
frame for incorporating the counter-cyclical income support proposal
into a new farm bill is limited. In all likelihood, a farm bill will
be reported out of the House Agriculture Committee by the end of July.
The accelerated
schedule the House will follow in crafting a farm bill provides precious
little time for NCGA, its state associations, checkoff boards and other
advocates to influence their work. The Senate Ag Committee is expected
to announce its hearing schedule soon.
Brent Porteus, chairman
of the NCGA Public Policy Action Team and a Coshocton, Ohio, farmer
said: "Our biggest challenge now is to get people to look at our
proposal and evaluate it on its merits. It's really important to understand
that our counter-cyclical proposal incorporates-and does not replace-what
worked well in the '96 Farm Bill. But it also represents an evolution
in policy in that it capitalizes on the previous bill's strengths in
a manner that is WTO friendly. The beauty of our counter-cyclical proposal
is that it moves us down the road in terms of creating a good market-driven
policy that avoids the pitfalls of previous policies that were market-distorting."
Last
reviewed June 6, 2001
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