Womack votes to continue progress on full-year funding; avoid government shutdown

Washington, DC—February 29, 2024…Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 7463, the Extension of Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2024.

Congressman Womack said, "We've punted our fundamental duty of funding the government five months past the due date. I'm incredibly disappointed—America deserves better. Another CR is regrettably necessary to responsibly avoid a harmful government shutdown and protect hardworking Americans, veterans, and our troops. Important projects in Arkansas' Third, including the FMS mission in Fort Smith, depend on our progress. This move will keep us on track to pass full-year appropriations this month."

The continuing resolution extends FY23 funding for the following appropriations bills through March 8, 2024:

• Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies

• Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

• Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

The bill extends FY23 for the remaining eight bills through March 22, 2024

Womack has consistently advocated for solutions to fix the broken budget and appropriations process, which has failed the American people for too long. He co-chaired the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform and introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to modernize and streamline current processes. Some of the reforms he supported would have helped prevent a budget and appropriations deadline crisis like we see today. Additionally, he called for moving to a biennial budget, ensuring realistic deadlines for Congress to complete its budget and appropriations work, and requiring a joint Budget Committee hearing on the Fiscal State of the Nation.

Cong. French Hill: Avoiding government shutdown ‘a very big challenge’

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, will be heading back to Washington D.C. this week as Congress reconvenes, but his working hours may be brief in less than a month.

There are two pending government shutdown deadlines looming – Jan. 19 and Feb. 2. Hill, who appeared on this week’s Capitol View and Talk Business & Politics programs, said only Congress would pick Groundhog Day for a potential shutdown, a brinksmanship move the public has seen play out repeatedly in the last decade.

“This is really frustrating to me. In 2023, there was so much wasted time. We had a debt ceiling deal between House Republicans led by then Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House and President Joe Biden that would’ve allowed us to get our appropriations work done in time. And we squandered that and then we made it worse by throwing Kevin McCarthy out of office,” Hill said of the early October vote to boot McCarthy as Speaker. House Republicans spent weeks trying to select a replacement.

Seven of 12 appropriations bills have cleared the House and are awaiting action in the Senate, where political dynamics differ from the House.

Cong. French Hill: Avoiding government shutdown ‘a very big challenge’

Effects of government shutdown would ripple through agriculture to consumers

By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — A  government shutdown could remove price and revenue safety nets for farmers and mean higher food prices for consumers, said Ryan Loy, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Funding for the federal government runs out Sept. 30 unless Congress passes a continuing resolution or finds some other means to keep funds flowing. If the government shuts down, so too would progress toward the next Farm Bill. The Farm Bill has provisions with two sets of expiration dates: Sept. 30, and Dec. 31.

Economist Ryan Loy provides insights into the effects on agriculture of a federal government shutdown. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

“When a government shutdown happens, non-essential activity just goes out the window,” Loy said. “If there’s a shutdown, then that includes the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Rural Development Centers.

“If you’re a farmer trying to sign up for programs, those agencies are not going to hold sign-ups,” he said.

Another effect is that two key agencies, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Agricultural Statistics Service, will also be closed and won’t be collecting statistics. That spells trouble in several ways. Without updated information from the BLS, the Federal Reserve can’t take informed action.

If NASS isn’t “going to do acreage reporting, that means they’re not going to give you payments, because nobody's going to be there to work,” Loy said. The shutdown would halt funding for  Agriculture Risk and Price Loss Coverage programs, known as ARC and PLC. These programs provide protection to farmers in the event of substantial revenue or commodity price drops. No funding means no payments to farmers.

SNAP, Crop insurance protected
If the government shuts down, participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and those who have crop insurance, won’t be affected. SNAP includes WIC, the Women, Infants and Children program.

“SNAP was authorized under the 2008 Food and Nutrition Act so lack of a Farm Bill won’t affect it,” Loy said, “Crop insurance was subsidized through the Federal Crop Insurance Act, so the crop insurance folks are going to be OK.”

Back to 1938 and 1949
Should the Farm Bill not go forward, farm commodity programs would lapse back to what’s referred to as “permanent law,” comprised of provisions from the 1938 and 1949 farm bills that never expire. Farm Bills passed since then have language that suspends the outdated provisions.

According to the Congressional Research Service, “permanent law would support dairy, wheat, rice, cotton, and corn but would not support soybeans, peanuts, and sugar, among other commodities. If the permanent law suspension were to expire, the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be required to implement permanent law, which is likely more expensive to the government and consumers than the current farm bill.”

“The big commodities that it will affect are cotton, milk and wheat,” Loy said, “So food prices will skyrocket in stores.”

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.