Senate Reaches Agreement to Move Forward with Farm Bill

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow says the Senate has reached a bipartisan agreement to move forward with the farm bill - a measure that affects 16-million American jobs. With that - the Senate is expected to begin debate on the legislation this (Tuesday) afternoon. In addition to a Manager's amendment - Senators will consider more than 70 amendments. Stabenow says her colleagues on both sides of the aisle understand it's important to act as soon as possible to give farmers the certainty they need to keep growing the economy. She says this Farm bill is unlike any other - cutting spending, ending subsidies, improving accountability and strengthening healthy food systems.

Crop insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - or SNAP - are each the subject of several of the amendments. Senator Tom Coburn's amendment to reduce MAP funding and Senator Jim DeMint's amendment to make checkoff programs voluntary are also on the list. There are some amendments dealing with the issue of payment limits as well.

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