Editor's update: On Nov. 15, the Senate also approved H.R. 6363 on a bipartisan 87-11 vote. The bill will now head to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
House passage of a bill to push federal spending decisions into 2024 also extends the current farm bill and a major dairy safety net into next year.
On Nov. 14, the House approved H.R. 6363 (the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024). Under special procedures that required a two-thirds majority vote, the bipartisan vote was 336 to 95 in favor of the bill. Democrats (209) and Republicans (127) joined to approve the bill, which was opposed by 93 Republicans and two Democrats.
The Senate is expected to pass the legislation and send it to Biden this week, averting a potential government shutdown on Nov. 17, when a previous continuing resolution affecting fiscal year 2024 federal spending expires. Under the two-step plan, four of 12 annual appropriations bills – including agriculture – are extended until Jan. 19. The remaining funding bills are extended until Feb. 2.
According to analysis by Michael Best Strategies, the bill extends nearly 20 federal agricultural and nutrition programs governed by the 2018 Farm Bill through Sept. 30, 2024.
The bill contains special provisions for dairy producers (see page 9), extending the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program and rolling the Supplemental DMC program, approved in 2019 to allow milk production history adjustments for small-sized and midsized producers, into the regular program. Both were set to expire at the end of 2023. The bill also extends the Dairy Forward Pricing Program into 2027.
