The 2013 Farm Bill failed to pass in the House of Representatives, being defeated in a 238-195 vote that united many Democrats and Republicans in opposition to the farm legislation.
For more than a year, the farm bill has been struggling in Congress. Despite making impressive gains last summer, the bill was killed in the House when Republican leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor refused to allow it onto the floor for a vote.
With farm groups ramping up political pressure, representatives have spent much of the past few months hammering out another bill that could appeal to Democratic and Republicans. The final version that emerged from the House Agriculture Committee represented a major bipartisan consensus. Ag Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) rejected calls from many fiscal conservatives to increase food stamp cuts by an additional $31 billion, while ranking member Collin Peterson (D-MN) agreed to accept more than $20 billion in cuts to nutritional aid.
Despite the bipartisan nature of the bill, it failed by a wide margin in the House. Only 24 Democrats voted for the bill (citing fears that the deep nutritional cuts could leave nearly 2 million people currently receiving food aid out in the cold). In addition, 62 Republicans voted against the bill.
While Lucas and Peterson have both pledged to bring the bill up again, the defeat comes as a blow to many farmers who had hoped for speedy, bipartisan action in the House.
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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer