Farm bill passes U.S. Senate and House
According to The New York Times, the U.S. Senate passed a sprawling farm bill, 87 to 13, on December 11, advancing an ambitious $867 billion measure that rejected stricter work requirements for food stamp recipients that were pushed by House Republicans.
According to The New York Times, the U.S. Senate passed a sprawling farm bill, 87 to 13, on December 11, advancing an ambitious $867 billion measure that rejected stricter work requirements for food stamp recipients that were pushed by House Republicans. The measure then passed easily in the House of Representatives by a 369-47 vote on December 12.
Lawmakers passed the legislation following months of negotiations, with Congress allowing the current farm bill to lapse on September 30 after struggling to come to a consensus over changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The bill, described by Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, as “mostly status quo,” does make some changes. At the insistence of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, it legalizes industrial hemp as a crop, giving farmers hurting from the loss of tobacco a boost. The measure is expected to open the usage of hemp for construction products and plastic composites, and should help vendors of cannabidiol, a cannabis compound that does not cause a high. The bill also extends insurance coverage to new crops, expands risk-management options for dairy farmers, and increases funding in organic research.
The chief point of contention was the House’s inclusion of new work requirements for able-bodied adults seeking food stamps. Conservatives had also hoped to close a loophole in the limited work requirements in existing law that allows states to waive the requirements in areas with high unemployment rates.
But the bipartisan group of negotiators from the House and Senate hashing out the final deal declined to take up either of those changes. They punted the issue of waivers to the agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, who has signaled he would look to use his regulatory power to limit states’ abilities to request those exemptions.
While stronger work requirements did not make it into the final text, the bill does make some changes to the SNAP program. Under the legislation, an interstate data system would be established to prevent multiple states from issuing SNAP benefits to the same individual simultaneously.
The bill now advances to President Donald Trump’s desk.
“While I feel there were missed opportunities in forest management and in improving work requirements for certain SNAP recipients, this bill does include several helpful provisions and we will continue to build upon these through our authorities,” commented U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “I commend Congress for bringing the farm bill across the finish line and am encouraging President Trump to sign it.”