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2008 Farm Bill
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, H.R. 2419, recently passed both chambers of Congress. The legislation commonly referred to as the 2008 Farm Bill passed the House 318 - 106 and the Senate 81-15. The President vetoed the legislation and both the House and Senate voted to override the veto.
A mistake was made when the bill was sent to the President and Title III, the section on Trade, was not included. That means that 14 of 15 Titles (sections) are law.
It has been reported by some groups that it is unconstitutional for the President to sign or veto a bill that Congress has not passed. The claim is that Congress didn't pass a farm bill without the Trade Title, so the President can't sign or veto such a bill. To prevent any legal action, Congress has decided to pass a new, complete 2008 Farm Bill. It is expected that the President will again veto the legislation and Congress will again override. A complete 2008 Farm Bill is expected to be law by the middle of June.
The Michigan Congressional Delegation supporting the legislation included:
- Representative Bart Stupak
- Representative Pete Hoekstra
- Representative Dave Camp
- Representative Dale Kildee
- Representative Fred Upton
- Representative Tim Walberg
- Representative Mike Rogers
- Representative Candice Miller
- Representative Thaddeus McCotter
- Representative Sander Levin
- Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick
- Representative John Conyers
- Representative John Dingell
- Senator Carl Levin
- Senator Debbie Stabenow
The legislation contains provisions impacting all sectors of Michigan agriculture providing a safety net, research, marketing, a disaster provision, and conservation incentives. Farm Bureau is continuing to review the legislation and will be posting information on how programs will be implemented in the near future.
