House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative agreement to extend federal agency funding through Dec. 11, aides close to the talks said, though there were still some Democratic concerns over farm payments that remained to be worked out.
The deal “in principle,” as sources described it, would replenish Commodity Credit Corporation funds which have dwindled down to about $2 billion after several rounds of payouts to farmers suffering from trade disputes and coronavirus-related losses.
The agency is bumping up against its $30 billion borrowing cap as early as next month, after which it won’t be able to finance regular, nonemergency programs authorized in the farm bill.
Democrats had initially sought to keep the CCC funds out of the continuing resolution but as of Friday afternoon agreed to the proposal in exchange for extending the so-called Pandemic EBT program — short for electronic benefits transfer. The program was created in a March aid package and provides school meals for low-income children eligible for free- and reduced-price lunches but who aren’t in school to receive them.
The Pandemic EBT extension would cost around $2.7 billion; that’s far less assistance than the $30 billion farmers are getting, which was contributing to the holdup. Lawmakers pushing for the farm aid include vulnerable GOP incumbents like Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, for example, and President Donald Trump himself touted generous payments at a Thursday campaign stop in Wisconsin, which is critical to his reelection hopes.
