House Agriculture chairman Mike Conaway says his committee will consider whether farm subsidies and public nutrition programs, headlined by food stamps, should be handled separately by lawmakers, says Agri-Pulse. Conaway said the idea, which was part of the divisive debate over the 2014 farm law, would be discussed during an upcoming review of the food stamp program. For decades, farm supports and public nutrition were renewed together in the so-called farm bill, drawing support from urban and rural lawmakers.
“We’re going to have to create an urban-rural alliance that helps us pass the next farm bill that’s not based or held together by the SNAP program,” Conaway told the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture meeting, according to Agri-Pulse.
Conservative House Republicans split the programs into separate bills in 2013 but the House-Senate panel that wrote the final version of the farm law re-united them. Conservatives say it will be easier to cut food stamp spending if there are separate bills. There are questions whether either portion – farm subsidies or food stamps – would survive separately. The House defeated the farm bill in mid-2013 when large cuts in food stamps were proposed.