Page 112 - Farm Bill Series_The 7 Things You Should Know

“There was good buy-in on the Senate side to make a number of changes in the RD title,”
explains a source close to the 2013 farm bill debate. “But there was a lot of skepticism on the
House side and ultimately, many reforms were dropped.”

Committee members also discovered that, while they had many RD advocates, they also had
strong lobbyists working against provisions like broadband.

“Some of the major telecommunications companies, like Comcast, have a lot of lobbyists
working to make sure that they are not disadvantaged by any programs designed to help smaller
rural providers expand broadband,” recalls a source who worked on the last farm bill.

“When you go into a farm bill debate, you are always looking for ways to convince other
committee members to take a specific action. You need to recognize that there is always
someone working equally as hard against you.”

Looking forward, rural development advocates are looking for more champions – both within the
agriculture committees and within the broader farming communities.

“I just wish the major farm groups would not forget about RD when it comes to the next farm
bill,” says a former lobbyist. “If you don’t have someone standing up as a champion on a daily
basis, it really hurts the cause.”

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