By Susan Crowell / editor@farmanddairy.com
And so it begins.
Actually, the 2018 farm bill wrangling began as soon as the 2014 bill was signed, and over the past 16 months both political parties and individual House and Senate ag committee members have held a flurry of public meetings and hearings to gather input. But the official House version of the next farm bill — with a $865 billion price tag — was introduced last Thursday, April 12.
It has a decidedly bipartisan name — the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 — but so far the House reaction has been anything but.
The spar involves the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which most of us typically call “food stamps.”
A primer: Nutrition spending makes up roughly 80% ($70 billion) of the total farm bill budget, and of the nutrition programs, SNAP accounts for 95% of all spending.
The just-introduced House version of the farm bill would require able-bodied adults, age 18-59, to work or participate in job training for 20 hours a week in order to receive food stamp benefits. The requirement would exempt those who are disabled, pregnant or caring for a child under age 6.
Currently, able-bodied adults without dependents aged 18-49 can receive food stamps for three months as long as they work or are in an employment and training program.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, called the change “a springboard out of poverty.”
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota, immediately released a volley of objections, saying, “This bill attempts to change SNAP from a feeding program to a work program… This legislation is based on false perceptions and ignores reality.”
A markup of the House draft was scheduled April 18.
Senate ag committee leaders Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, took the high road after the House version was introduced (they could because their own version has yet to be released), and released a joint statement:
“With low commodity prices, worsening conditions in farm country, and unmet needs in communities across the country, we need to get this farm bill right. We’re working together as quickly as possible to produce a bipartisan bill that can pass the Senate and be enacted into law.”
Another primer: After the House passes its version of the bill, the bill goes to the Senate. The Senate Agriculture Committee also creates its own draft bill, which must also be voted upon by the full Senate. The two versions of the bills then go to the Joint Conference Committee where the differences are worked out.
Once agreement is reached, the reconciled bill is sent back to the House and the Senate for debate, and each chamber votes on the bill. If one chamber makes any changes to the bill, the bill is sent back to the Joint Conference Committee to reconcile the changes and then is sent back to the House and the Senate for a vote.
It’s a long political process, and only the most optimistic think it will be done before the current farm bill expires Sept. 30. There will be a lot more sniping before it’s done.
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