House Passes Lucas Farm Bill, Delegation Split
In big victory for Lucas, House passes farm bill
BY CHRIS CASTEEL
WASHINGTON — The House passed a five-year farm bill on Wednesday to revamp crop subsidies, conservation programs and food stamps, handing a major victory to Rep. Frank Lucas, the Oklahoma Republican who worked for years to craft legislation that could gain bipartisan support.
The bill, approved 251 to 166, now goes to the Senate, which is expected to pass it and send it to the president soon. Oklahoma lawmakers split on the measure as Lucas and Reps. Tom Cole, R-Moore, and Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, voted for it, and Reps. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, and Jim Bridenstine, R-Tulsa, opposed it.
Lucas, a rancher from Cheyenne and the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, had to battle his own party’s leaders, Democrats and a wide range of special interest groups to keep the bill moving toward a compromise.
Wednesday, he said the “long and seemingly epic journey” had ended with legislation that improved the farm policies in place since 2008. The Congressional Budget Office, which estimated the bill’s cost as if the policies would be in place for 10 years, said it would save $17 billion over that period.