Senate Republicans released a new budget blueprint that leaves critical fights over spending cuts and key questions about farm bill programs until later and assumes the GOP doesn’t have to pay for the cost of permanently extending expiring provisions of the 2017 tax law.
The new budget resolution, which Republicans hope to push through the Senate by this weekend, would leave the House and Senate on wildly different tracks when it comes to spending cuts.
The resolution would instruct the House Agriculture Committee to cut at least $230 billion over 10 years from spending under its jurisdiction, while the Senate Ag Committee would be required to cut as little as little as $1 billion.
“We have to have some flexibility, so this is a way to advance the ball,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters when asked about the two-track approach on spending cuts.
Chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture committees met Wednesday on ways to include parts of the farm bill in the reconciliation process. Senate Ag Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said he and his House counterpart, Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., specifically discussed how to include farm bill risk management tools in reconciliation. But they did not reach any final conclusions, he said.
“We're a long way from sitting down, actually making decisions,” Boozman said of including farm bill provisions in this process.
Savings from cuts to nutrition assistance could potentially be used to raise Price Loss Coverage reference prices and to address other farm group priorities.
The budget resolution is the first step in using the budget reconciliation process to enact tax and spending cuts, and spending increases. Republicans will eventually have to reach agreement on the details of what’s included in a reconciliation bill.
On another critical issue that’s likely to face stiff opposition from hardline House conservatives, the resolution would use a “current policy” baseline to score the cost of extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The resolution would authorize an additional $1.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years to clear the way for new provisions that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump want to add. Trump has called for eliminating taxes on tips, for example. GOP leaders also are under pressure to expand business expensing and to raise the cap on state and local income tax deductions.
While using the current policy baseline means Republicans don’t have to find spending cuts to offset the TCJA extension, the federal debt would increase by $14 trillion over 10 years to more than $50 trillion by fiscal 2034.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters that while it’s possible to identify “trillions” in spending cuts, “you’ve got to have the votes to do it.”
House Democrats have begun making it clear that getting a farm bill done will be nearly impossible if Republicans pursue the $230 billion in cuts to SNAP. Thompson has said he expects the final cut to be significantly smaller.
When asked about the Democratic concerns, Boozman said the goal is to get some of the farm bill done in reconciliation to make sure farmers have those risk management tools available during challenging economic times.
“This all fits together,” Boozman said. “We’re going to work hard, working with the House and … working with our folks on the other side to … at the end of the year, have a farm bill program that works for everyone.”
Hoeven, who joined the Boozman-Thompson meeting, said the focus was to ensure both committees are working together to coordinate on farm bill and reconciliation. He said they also discussed how both chambers will approach orphan and conservation programs from the farm bill.
“We want those to be farmer-friendly, not mandatory,” Hoeven said. “Obviously anywhere we can find savings that help us address the safety net issues, we will.”
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