By CongressDaily staff
© National Journal Group Inc.
Monday, April 14, 2008

Like field workers struggling to get the hay into the barn before a coming storm, House and Senate conferees are under pressure to finish their work on the new farm bill before the 2002 version expires Friday.

	The House is looking at legislation to expand access to federal student loans in anticipation that the credit crunch and mortgage crisis might take a toll on the ability of lenders to help deal with the cost of college.

The massive package has been stalled for months over how to finance a $10 billion increase in spending and $2.5 billion in agricultural tax breaks that the Senate added to the bill. Conferees from both chambers exchanged offers last week and Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the conference, has scheduled a conference for this afternoon.

While some participants and observers are optimistic about beating the deadline, the offers are far apart.

The House, meanwhile, is expected to take up legislation Thursday that would expand access to federal student loans in anticipation that the credit crunch and mortgage crisis might take a toll on the ability of lenders to help deal with the cost of college.

Although congressional farm leaders, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had earlier agreed to increase spending by $10 billion, House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., with the support of House Republicans, last week proposed limiting the spending increase to $5.5 billion and leaving out the disaster aid program. Taking out the disaster money would not sit well with Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who have made the program a top priority.

Peterson's offer left out tax breaks that had been added to the bill by the Senate Finance Committee. He contended that a bill containing those provisions would not pass.

Peterson said he is not opposed to disaster aid, but does not believe it should be part of a package that is subject to pay/go rules requiring cuts in other programs to provide the money.

House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is not happy because the Senate removed his inclusion of money to provide tax breaks for farmers and an increase in food stamp benefits.

Baucus said the spending would be offset by extending the customs user fee program for $4.1 billion; ending the ability of physicians to refer patients to specialty hospitals they own, which would save $2.4 billion in Medicare outlays; and requiring brokers to report what customers initially paid for stocks in securities transactions, which would result in a $6 billion increase in tax receipts. Baucus said Friday he believes the Senate offsets would be "more popular with the White House and with the country" than the House offsets.

Baucus and Harkin said conferees have agreed to reduce a cut in crop insurance from $5.9 billion to $5.75 billion. Harkin said that while the Senate proposal does not include cuts in direct payments, he would not rule out a small cut in the final version of the bill.

Conferees have not resolved the issue of payment limitations.

While the farm package has been moving in fits and starts over a period of months, the college loan proposal is moving quickly. House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., proposed the bill just last week, following the introduction of a similar bill in the Senate by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., of a similar bill.

Miller's measure has the backing of Education and Labor ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon, R-Calif., who helped negotiate the bill beforeintroduction and is the lead co-sponsor.

The bill would increase annual federal student loan limits by $2,000, gives recipients an additional six months to start making payments and would temporarily give struggling homeowners access to federal college loans.

Backers are waiting for CBO to score the bill so they can determine offsets to cover the cost, a spokeswoman for Miller said.

Opposition has sprung up from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the U.S. Student Association. "Higher loan limits are an open invitation to schools that abuse the student aid program," they wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week.

The Senate meets today at 2 p.m. for morning business, then resumes consideration of the motion to proceed to the highway technical corrections bill.

The House meets today at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. On Tuesday, the House will meet at 10:30 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 8:30 a.m. and recess immediately to allow for the Former Members Association annual meeting, and will reconvene at approximately 10 a.m. for legislative business after the meeting is concluded. On Friday, no votes are expected.