Bill to Save Farmer Mac Languishes As Lawmakers Quibble Over Details

Legislation to rescue Farmer Mac has passed both the House and the Senate. But for the moment, it's not going any further.

Both bodies have agreed to grant new powers to the unprofitable farm mortgage securitizer and ease its capital requirements. But the Farmer Mac legislation passed by the Senate Dec. 21 includes a new quasigovernmental conservation foundation, which the House stripped out when it approved the bill Wednesday.

That means the bill now goes back to the Senate, where it is likely to be altered with the addition of numerous farming-related amendments - amendments the House is almost certain to reject again.

"The Senate seems intent on junking up this legislation with extraneous material," said one House staffer.

Banking groups, which along with Farmer Mac itself have been the main backers of the legislation, are still hoping that the House and Senate can reach a compromise.

"The fact that both houses have passed the bill indicates that people agree this is a good way to give the secondary market for agricultural loans an opportunity to succeed," said Mark Scanlan, a farm lobbyist for the Independent Bankers Association of America.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER