Kansas Congressman Derek Schmidt took some time to update KVOE listeners on agriculture policy and overall budgeting as part of his monthly visit on the KVOE Morning Show on Friday.
The five-year Farm Bill has stalled out in Congress for at least two years, but Schmidt says about three-quarters of the Farm Bill policy matters were handled when the “One Big Beautiful” reconciliation bill was passed this summer. Having said, Schmidt says there are still some big policy issues to address — and this is not the way Schmidt wants to handle farm policy in general terms.
When it comes to the overall budget, Schmidt says Congress works on 12 major annual appropriations bills every year. Congress hasn’t passed all of them in a given year for over 30 years, but three key appropriation bills have — bills funding SNAP benefits and farm programs as well as veterans affairs. Schmidt wants to see that process eventually return, but that appears iffy as the House and Senate work to pass more of the individual appropriations bills before the last short-term budget deadline in late January.
Schmidt appears on KVOE’s Morning Show during the last Friday of the month’s Newsmaker 2 segment.
