The House and Senate farm bill negotiators meet formally for the first time this week with the expiration of the 2014 law less than a month away.

 

The conference committee meeting, scheduled for Wednesday in the Senate’s historic Kennedy Caucus Room, site of events ranging from the Watergate hearings to a farm bill conference committee meeting for what became the 2008 farm bill.

 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated recently that he wants the conference committee to finish work on a new farm bill this month, but progress was slow in August with the House in recess all month and senators out of town for part of the month as well.

 

“Paramount is getting a bill” finalized, said Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan. He said he pushed staff members to make recommendations for resolving differences between the House and Senate bills.

 

Wednesday’s meeting will largely be taken up with opening statements by the 47 House and nine Senate conferees. The actual negotiations are taking place privately.

 

The farm bill isn’t the only major item on Congress’ to-do list as they return to work this month. Sept. 30 also is the end of the fiscal year, and lawmakers went into August hoping they could get at least some of the fiscal 2019 spending bills to President Donald Trump’s desk before October. When Trump signed the omnibus funding bill for fiscal 2018 in March, he insisted that he wouldn’t sign another giant, government-wide funding

 

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