In the News

By: Matt Dotray Most members of Congress probably aren’t as supportive as Rep. Jodey Arrington for the proposed budget bill that looked destined to stall out in the Senate late Thursday before a looming government shutdown. A-J Media spoke with the Lubbock Republican Thursday morning before the vote to approve a two-year budget was expected late Thursday, while the freshman representative said he was out trying to whip up votes. But a government shutdown looked likely late Thursday as GOP Sen. Rand Paul held up voting on the broad measure in hopes of obtaining recorded votes on reversing spending increases, according to the Associated Press. It had been described as a bi-partisan budget deal that would put an end to the short-term funding measures that seemed to become habit in recent months and prompted a nearly three-day federal government shutdown in January. Opposition came from both parties — from Republicans it came from the most fiscally conservative, arguing against the boost for domestic programs. Arrington typically aligns with this group, but if spending were one of his top three issues, this budget deal addresses the other two. Included in the bill is Arrington’s long-fought budget-neutral provision that would bring cotton back into Title 1 of the Farm Bill, and would cover cotton both as a seed and lint for the first time ever. Arrington has been pushing for this cotton safety net since taking office, and said this would be a major win for West Texas. But Arrington said he’d likely be a yes vote on this budget even if cotton wasn’t in the mix, because he said it includes another big win for West Texas — $165 billion in extra defense spending. “If my brother, or my son or daughter, were on the front lines today, knowing what I know about America’s military readiness, would I be a yes in this budget negotiation or would I be a no? Let me tell you something, I would be a yes so fast your head would spin,” Arrington said Thursday. “Because it’s not right to send our sons and daughters into battle and into harms way without giving them what they need.” Representing a district that includes both Lubbock and Abilene, Arrington said this extra defense spending will directly impact Dyess Air Force Base, which he says has been facing reduced funding that correlates with pilot training and equipment. “Some of this funding will be to prepare Dyess for the B-21 bomber, and we want the B-21 to be based for the next 80 years at Dyess,” Arrington said. “So you’ve got this and cotton — there aren’t two bigger issues to the West Texas economy and the future of West Texas than what we’re talking about. I know this is going to be great, and I know this is the right thing for our troop.” The cotton designation would make cotton eligible for safety nets, such as Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, already available for other crops. This would make make cotton growers eligible for payments if prices drop below a certain level or for damage, starting this crop year. This cotton provision was added to the disaster bill that was rolled into this budget deal. “Going on four years of low prices without a safety net, we’ve got find the quickest way to patch that safety net,” Arrington said. “This is the vehicle... we’re losing farmers right now and we’ll never get them back when we lose them. There’s a real crisis in the cotton belt.” Arrington, like others, said this bill isn’t perfect. He said he’d rather not vote for the $131 billion for non-military programs, but did take some comfort in the fact that, he said, it’s for mostly Republican priorities and not quite the amount that his colleagues on the other side of the aisle wanted. Along with the extra defense spending, the bill includes $131 billion in extra spending for things like infrastructure, mental health, child care and veterans hospitals, according to the Associated Press. Arrington said this is a bi-partisan bill, and not perfect for both parties. He said he’ll continue his work on the budget committee to make cuts, and the brunt of those will need to come from mandatory spending, not discretionary spending like what was expected to be held up late Thursday.