WASHINGTON — For decades, California's fruit, vegetable and nut growers have been left out in the cold whenever the federal government handed out subsidies through its various farm programs.

Not anymore.

California farmers may be on the verge of receiving a bumper crop of financial assistance under a farm bill that is up for renewal this year.

The House could vote as early as today on a five-year farm bill that includes $1.6 billion for California's specialty crop industry, which covers everything from fruits and vegetables to nuts and nurseries.

But the bill already is facing hurdles. On Wednesday, farm-state Republicans threatened to defect from the measure in a spat over taxes. Republicans said they would withdraw support for the legislation if Democrats pressed ahead with last-minute plans to include a tax increase.

A proposal to tax certain foreign-owned companies with U.S. subsidiaries would pay for $4 billion in food stamps and other nutrition programs.

But if the bill stays pretty much the way it is now, California will be a big winner because the state will end up with more than it has ever received, said Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail.

The effect in Ventura County will not be as great, he said, because whatever money California gets will be divided among the state's 58 counties.

"We will get some extra money, but it's not going to be a great deal of money," McPhail said.

Even so, "California stands to gain a lot, which means Ventura County will gain," McPhail said.

First, the legislation will have to clear Congress and then get past President Bush, who has threatened to veto it. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Wednesday that Bush would veto the House bill because it is too generous with subsidies.

As an example, Johanns pointed to a provision that would ban federal subsidies to farmers with incomes averaging more than $1 million a year and stop farmers from collecting payments for multiple farm businesses.

Johanns said the millionaires proposal would affect about 7,000

farmers, noting that the administration has suggested limiting subsidies for those with incomes of more than $200,000. That would affect 38,000 farmers, Johanns said.

The Senate is working on its own version of the farm bill but has yet to release any details.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, said Wednesday that the package is still in the draft stages but probably would be unveiled in September.

Meanwhile, the House bill contains a number of provisions that will benefit California farmers, who have been shut out in previous years as the bulk of farm subsidies were directed to growers of wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton.

California is the largest agriculture producer in the country, mostly because of the state's $17 billion-a-year specialty crop industry.

The House plan would allocate about $1.6 billion for specialty crops, including $215 million for research, $365 million for block grants, that could be used to market specialty crops and $350 million to buy fruits and vegetables for the federal school lunch program.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, called the proposal "a substantial improvement" over the last farm bill that passed five years ago.

Capps voted against that measure because of its lack of support for California's growers and because she was concerned that it contained wasteful spending. She plans to support the latest proposal when it comes to a vote on the House floor.

The programs contained in the bill "will help our local economy and promote some of our country's most healthy foods," Capps said. "While I think the bill can and should do much more to help feed the hungry and protect our environment, it is moving in the right direction."

McPhail said Ventura County farmers would especially benefit from the school lunch provision.

"We'll be shipping more fresh fruits and vegetables to the Midwest and the East Coast and that sort of thing, especially during certain times of the year," he said. "California, and here in Ventura County, when you're talking about fresh fruits and vegetables, we're about the only game in town, especially here on the coasts. Our growers will gain in that respect, there's no question about it."

Another plus for Ventura County will be the $200 million that is included for pest exclusion activities across the country, McPhail said.

The bill would create a new program for early detection, prevention and eradication of emerging pests and diseases.

The program would be run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture but would be done in consultation with the state Department of Agriculture and county agricultural commissioners.

A lot of that money for the program will go to California, Texas and Florida because of the amount of imports they receive and the amount of produce they ship out of the country, McPhail said.

The USDA already operates an inspection program at the Port of Hueneme, where a lot of commodities enter the country.

McPhail's office also has a team of inspectors that routinely checks packages at delivery companies such as FedEx, United Parcel Service and DHL.

With the extra money for pest exclusion, "we'll be able to do more inspections at UPS, FedEx and places like that," McPhail said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.