Farm aid on way, says Lincoln

WASHINGTON — Qualified farmers in Arkansas and elsewhere can expect to receive federal payments even though a disaster-relief measure was derailed in the Senate this week, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln said Thursday.

After reaching a deal with Senate leaders for the $1.5 billion assistance package to be included in a bill scheduled for a vote this week, Lincoln agreed to drop it from the measure after Republicans threatened to defeat it.

But that was only after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel assured Lincoln, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, that the administration would find the money elsewhere - avoiding the need for a congressional vote, Lincoln said.

“In exchange for pulling ag disaster” from the larger bill, Lincoln said in a statement that she had secured an agreement from Emanuel and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada “and have their commitment to deliver critical agriculture disaster assistance administratively in the next two weeks.”

Lincoln - who is engaged in a tough re-election campaign against Republican Rep. John Boozman - introduced the aid package in the spring for farmers who suffered losses in 2008 and 2009.

The funding had been passed earlier this year by the House and Senate as part of another bill, but dropped during the process to reconcile the two versions. Last week, Lincoln forced a delay in Senate proceedings before gettingReid’s agreement to include the agriculture money in a larger bill designed to assist small businesses.

Although senators began debating the small-business bill this week, Democratic and Republican leaders could not reach agreement on allowing amendments. Even though the disaster funding was dropped, the bill still faltered on a 58-42 vote, failing to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. All Senate Republicans voted no. Senators on both sides of the aisle hope to bring it up again before leaving for their August recess next week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky singled out the agriculture funding for criticism in his remarks about how Democrats had handled the measure.

“They’ve been adding either controversial or completely unrelated matters to this bill - all to avoid any real debate and to avoid voting on Republican amendments,” he said. “I mean this thing now has over a billion dollars in agriculture spending in it.”

But Lincoln responded that the disaster aid would help small businesses - specifically those in the agriculture industry.

“It’s not only the farmers,” she said at an event to push for passage of child-nutrition legislation, “but it’s the seed dealers, it’s the implement dealers, it’s the local stores and everybody else in those small communities that depend on agriculture as the mainstay of their economy.”

Lincoln held Thursday’s child-nutrition event to continue her push to get a vote on the bill before the Senateadjourns. She has sponsored legislation that would increase spending for child-nutrition programs by $4.5 billion over 10 years.

For the third consecutive day, she spoke on the Senate floor about the issue, and she appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe news show to discuss the bill that covers nutrition programs which expire Sept. 30, such as school lunches.

Her efforts got a bipartisan boost at Thursday’s event, where she was joined by five Senate colleagues as well as officials from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National PTA - and an assortment of youngsters dressed as fruit and vegetables.