Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chair of the Senate Ag Committee, released a statement after the Congressional Budget Office published its revised 10-year budget projections.
“Today’s updated projections from the CBO prove what we’ve been saying all along. The House Republican bill is unpaid for, relying on magic math and wishful thinking,” she says. “In exchange for blocking USDA’s ability to provide real-time assistance to farmers through the CCC to address emergency challenges, House Republicans received only a small fraction of the $50 billion hole they need to fill to pay for the bill.”
She also says her Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act is meaningful and responsible. “More importantly, it doesn’t fracture the farm and food coalition that is the foundation of every successful farm bill,” she adds. “I did the hard work of securing new resources outside the farm bill,” she says. “Now is the time to start negotiating.”