House Update: As you may recall when the Farm Bill failed in the House last month, it was due in part to nea votes from some House Freedom Caucus members who demanded separate votes on immigration. Speaker Ryan shortly thereafter filed a motion to reconsider, a procedural motion to allow for a re-vote on passage of the Farm Bill. The deadline to take up the motion to reconsider is this coming Friday, June 22nd. Regarding immigration, the current situation is over 2 separate packages, including a bill from Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte (R-VA) that is considered to be very conservative, and a separate bill negotiated by various GOP factions. President Trump met with the Republican caucus last night and reportedly indicated that he would sign either bill. Next steps are for the Republican whip team to determine where they stand for votes on both packages and whether to move forward on the floor with them. This has implications for the timing of a vote on the motion to reconsider the Farm Bill and subsequently the re-vote on final passage. The House Majority Leader is reported to have said this morning that the House will vote on both immigration bills, as well as the Farm Bill, tomorrow. We will keep you posted with updates.
Joshua Tonsager, VP of Policy & Communications
National Association of Wheat Growers
Senate Update: With passage of the Farm Bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, the full Senate has turned this week to debate on a minibus appropriations bill for FY 2019 (containing the appropriations bills for Energy & Water, Military Construction/VA, and the Legislative Branch). The Senate is expected to wrap up debate on the minibus, and then leadership could potentially call up the Farm Bill at the end of the week, teeing up debate on the floor next week. The NAWG staff has been contacting Senate offices this week to see what sort of amendments may be offered, and we’ve had a focus on urging opposition to amendments we expect will be offered to cut crop insurance. Once we start to know what specific amendments are going to be offered, we will be sending up formal communications to the Hill and asking for grassroots help in communicating with your Senate offices.