US Rep. Frank Lucas optimistic about chances for approval of new farm bill soon

Despite ongoing issues of gridlock in Congress — and the fact 2024 is a presidential election year — U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas remains optimistic a new farm bill will be passed and signed into law this year by President Joe Biden.

In an interview with The Oklahoman during a visit to his southwest Oklahoma City office, Lucas said he’s glad Congress approved a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill, which carries that bill until the end of this September and bought more time to negotiate the details of what now would be a 2024 bill. But before that happens, Lucas said Congress has got to do some “basic work.”

“We’ve got to fund the rest of the federal government, for the rest of this (fiscal) year, to the last day of September 2024, Lucas said. “That’s important, because until those issues are addressed, there’s not enough political oxygen to fund anything else.”

Lucas has deep background in agricultural issues

Lucas, R-Cheyenne, is the dean of Oklahoma’s seven-person congressional delegation. Since taking office in 1994, he’s continued operating his ranch in Roger Mills County, and he believes he’s the only active farmer in Congress.

He’s long been associated with promoting agricultural interests in Washington. He’s the longest-serving member of the House’s agricultural committee and has had a hand in writing every farm bill since 1996. He served as the committee chairman from 2011 to 2015 and crafted the 2014 farm bill, a major rewrite of previous legislation concerning national agricultural issues.

The initial goal of Lucas and others invested in the farm bill’s success was to have a bill through Congress by last September, but the narrow Republican majority in Congress helped thwart those efforts. Individual members of Congress have unusual power because of that slim majority, which was seen in recent political battles over who would serve as speaker of the House.

With the GOP more focused on politics instead of legislation, many other issues took a backseat, including passing a budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The federal government now is being funded through the third “continuing resolution,” which merely extends the previous fiscal year’s spending levels. The current continuing resolution, signed by Biden earlier this month, runs through early March.

Lucas says current farm legislation will need only 'tweaks' this time around

This year’s farm bill, Lucas said, won’t be a major rewrite of the legislation, as occurred in 1996 and 2014.

“It’s going to be tweaks, adjustments, refinements, reflecting the changes of COVID, the trade wars, all that sort of stuff,” he said.

Lucas’ primary concern is increasing what he calls the “safety net” for farmers and ranchers. Since 2018, he said, their real costs have risen between 50%-70% and their buying power has been reduced. To make the protections for the 2024 bill as strong as those in the 2018 bill, Lucas figures they need to increase by somewhere between $70 billion and $100 billion. He would like to reallocate money approved in past years by the Biden administration toward those subsidies.

Lucas is working with the House agricultural committee chairman, Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, in developing the 2024 bill. Thompson, who visited Oklahoma recently and attended an event with Lucas, has said crop insurance is one of his three priorities for the bill.

The U.S. Senate is controlled by Democrats, with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, of Michigan, serving as that body’s agricultural committee chairwoman. Stabenow will not seek re-election this year, Lucas said, and he believes she would like one of her legislative legacies to be a successful negotiation and passage of a new farm bill.

As far as Biden, Lucas said, “I’ve never seen a president who didn’t sign a farm bill” and make a big show of doing so.

When it comes to farm policy, another veteran member of Congress from Oklahoma said his colleagues would be foolish not to listen to Lucas when it comes to farm policy, crafting the bill and voting on the bill.

“Do you really think you know more about farm policy than Frank Lucas, or more about rural America than Frank Lucas?” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore. “Nobody in our delegation knows as much as Frank Lucas about these range of issues.

“The obvious thing to me is, I’m voting with him. He’s the smartest guy on this stuff that I know and a guy I know who represents farmers and ranchers who look a lot like my farmers and ranchers. They have the same crops. They have the same interests. If Frank Lucas tells me it’s the right thing to do, I don’t have to think about it much further than that.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: A new federal farm bill in 2024 is likely, Rep. Frank Lucas says