Frank Lucas Discusses Agricultural Future Amidst Political Transformation

Listen to Ron Hays talking with Frank Lucas about navigating the many changes happening in government.

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster got to speak with the Third District Congressman of Oklahoma Frank Lucas, who formerly served as Ag Committee Chairman. Citing the many changes in government recently with the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, the Republican majority trifecta, and the new Congress, Hays asked about the political climate going forward.

“You could almost describe it as a brand-new world both politically and in any other practical light,” Lucas said. “All of the Biden political appointees were dismissed shortly after President Trump was sworn in last Monday. The Senate is in the process of reviewing his nominations for his Cabinet posts where they’ll have to be ratified under the Constitution.”

Career civil servants like Lucas are running the agencies while they are between Biden’s dismissed political appointees and Trump’s incoming Cabinet.

Going forward, Lucas will continue his involvement on the Ag Committee, but also during yesterday’s House Agriculture Committee’s organizational meeting, Congressman Lucas was named the chair of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.

“That was my first subcommittee in the very beginning,” he said. “You know how near and dear those conservation programs are to me from upstream flood control, the upstream flood rehab, to EQUIP to all of the conservation programs. It is good to be home.”

Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson released the following statement after Lucas’s appointment:

“I’m thrilled to name Rep. Frank Lucas as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology for the 119th Congress,” said Chairman Thompson. “His leadership, expertise, and unwavering commitment to rural America will be invaluable as we tackle the challenges ahead. Together, we will work tirelessly to support American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. We must defend our food security, strengthen our nation’s agricultural economy, and, most importantly, pass a comprehensive farm bill to send to President Trump’s desk.”

Congressman Lucas will also serve on the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development. In addition to these, he has also taken up the gallow of the subcommittee with the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions. He was also named the chair of the Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity.

“The task force is a committee of Republicans and Democrats put together at the subcommittee level to look at the Federal Reserve System – how it is constructed, how it deals with banks and oversight roles, and to also address the Treasury Department’s capacity to market securities, especially with the deficit that has grown dramatically in recent years. This really cuts to the core of banking and the availability of credit in this country, so it is a challenging responsibility that Chairman Hill has given me, but like my assignments on the Ag Committee, it sits well with Oklahoma. We are ag, we are energy, and there are very few industries that are as capital-intensive as farming and oil and gas.”

 Congressman Lucas described bankers as the arbitrageurs of capital because they are who offer up dollars to pay for interest on savings deposits and also decide what credit is worth when they lend money for farms, ranches, homes, and more.

“I want to make sure that the Federal Reserve System Reflects what it takes to have a healthy banking/financial services industry in the United States,” he commented. “There are all manner of changes going on in the banking industry. It is not what it was in my father’s day, but how do we ensure that the Federal Reserve System reflects what the people need, want, and support.”

Congressman Lucas also spoke about the confirmation hearing of Brooke Rollins to Ag Secretary which was still yet to begin when he and Hays spoke.  Click the Listen Bar at the top of the page to hear the full audio.

In the current climate of the recently extended farm bill, Lucas said that creating a new farm bill that encompasses the needs of producers across the nation will be a legislative challenge.

“We will have a one-seat Republican majority out of 435 in the House, where in the Senate, Senator Lankford and Senator Mullin are part of a three-seat majority in a 100-member body,” Lucas explained. “It is quite likely that the big pieces of legislation, like ag, will be a part of one of, what I predict will be, three budget reconciliation bills.”

He explained that budget reconciliation is a process set up under the 1974 Budget Act that says once per budget year, bills can be run if they reduce overall spending by simple majorities in the House and the Senate. So rather the the usually required sixty votes in the Senate, only fifty-one votes will be needed. He expects the first reconciliation bill to focus on tax relief and border issues.

“I would hope that in the second or third reconciliation bill, we would see the farm bill be part of that,” he said. “Because we will achieve some savings in the social nutrition programs and other areas that would make the farm bill at neutral or save some money, but yet shift some resources to the commodity title because we faced some challenges weather-wise.”

He noted the differences in the farm bill from 2018 and what those numbers should be to address current markets affected by inflation, trade wars, and the COVID pandemic.

“We aren’t going back to 2018 prices, at least on inputs for farmers, and we have to adjust those reference prices to reflect that,” he said. “We have had some tough weather cycles in the last five years and there needs to be some tweaks made in crop insurance so that it is still actually a safety net and still worth producers paying a premium to be a part of it. We will work on that, too, but we don’t have to reinvent the farm bill like we did in 1996 under Pat Roberts, or we did under me in 2014. It is a matter of turning the knobs.”

Lucas noted that the party majority margins in the House and Senate are the closest they have been in possibly a century or more, but that President Trump is likely the most dynamic, strong-willed, and willing-to-engage president that Lucas has known in his lifetime.

“Donald Trump is going to be a dramatic force in the House and the Senate. I already see that,” he said. “So, as we craft legislation, it has to be consistent with his policies and philosophy, and also work for the American people. When we get to that same page, which we will do on things like the farm bill, then we are going to drive it like a freight train even on the slightest of margins.”

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