Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, recently had the chance to catch up with Congressman Frank Lucas and talk about the latest update regarding the farm bill.
The biggest hurdle now, Lucas said, is sorting out who will be Speaker of the House.
“Chairman Thompson, of course, like everyone and everything else in the United States House, is kind of handicapped until we sort out the Speaker situation,” Lucas said. “Which, I would like to think would be any day now. G.T. (Thompson) and the committee staff, and the committee members, I think, have done the hearings, they have laid the groundwork to move forward. We just need to have this leadership situation sorted out in the House, so we will know when the time is available to consider something on the floor.”
Farm Bills are about as complicated as it gets, Lucas said, because of the many moving parts and parties involved.
“We will get it done, as we have, it’s just hard, and in a year like this, it is a little harder,” Lucas said.
Extending the 2018 Farm Bill would be more complicated than it might seem, Lucas said, because if it is extended, it must be extended for at least one year.
“Chairman Thompson is very committed and very focused that instead of an extension, we just need to do the bill,” Lucas said. “I agree with Chairman Thompson, but if it gets to the point where an extension provides certainly and stability, then I think we will do what we need to do.”
The other positive part of the equation, Lucas said, is that presidents tend to sign farm bills during election years, and 2024 will be an election year.
“I would rather have a good bill with numbers we can live with, than in haste do something that perhaps would not last five years,” Lucas said.
