<p> House and Senate conferees are planning to meet this Thursday to begin the final process of approving a Farm Bill that can be voted by both chambers. Leadership aides in both chambers indicated that the long-stalled legislation, which faltered in the House last session, could be sent to the president’s desk by the Martin Luther King Jr. Day recess.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> “Overall, while there are still major issues involving SNAP payments and the major commodity programs in Title I, conferees are moving closer to completion with hopefully something finalized next week,” Barry J. Bedwell, President of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, tells AndNowUKnow. “Specialty crops remain in a good position thanks to the efforts of conferee leadership.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Indeed, a House GOP aide has commented that there are still significant compromises to be made. “I would caution against saying that this means that everything’s done. It means we are very close to being done, but there are other steps in the process,” the aide said. “We hope in very short order we will be announcing a conference report, but that doesn’t mean the report would be voted on.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> One of the problems surrounding SNAP involves reforming the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to eliminate abuse of the program by states, according to Roll Call. Some states are using this loophole to provide low-income residents with nominal subsidies to pay for their heating in the winter, thus triggering higher food stamp benefits.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Will these issues be resolved in time? Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow the progress of the Farm Bill. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/farm-bill-nearing-home-stretch" target="_new"> Roll Call </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
