Senate Easily Approves Start of Farm Bill Debate

The Senate Monday evening voted 89-3 to limit debate on proceeding to the House-passed farm bill, which will serve as the legislative vehicle for the Senate 2018 farm bill.The five-year bill passed the House on a 213-211 vote June 21. The Senate bill cleared the ag panel June 13 on a 20-1 vote, a clear and now unusual bipartisan measure.The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the Senate bill would cost $428 billion in the first five years and $867 billion over CBO’s 10-year scoring window of fiscal 2019 through 2028. The House farm bill would cost about the same for both time periods.