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Farm
bill negotiators said they reached agreement on the fundamental
tenets of new five-year legislation on Friday, as the White
House agreed to extend existing farm legislation a third
time, giving legislators through May 2 to hammer out the
details.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
said in a statement key farm bill negotiators have agreed
a core farm bill that exceeds budget baseline by $10 billion.
Critically, the conference committee agreed to drop new
tax proposals that President Bush had said would be a deal
breaker on the bill. Legislators said the committee was
now considering other ways, including user-fees, to fund
the $10 billion overrun, according to media reports.
Specific details and funding will still have to be worked
out and are all subject to ratification by the full conference
committee. The committee meets again today.
Harkin said the new farm bill will invest heavily in renewable
energy and will help bring the promise of cellulosic biofuels
to reality by providing grants and loans to move from corn
ethanol to other renewable feedstocks.
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