Congress could fail to pass the upcoming 2023 farm bill if Republicans try to mangle the food stamp program, warned House Agriculture chairman David Scott on Monday. Speaking at a farm conference, Scott said the farm-and food-coalition of rural and urban groups was vital to enactment of the farm bill, panoramic legislation that ranges from farm and stewardship subsidies to SNAP, agricultural research and rural development.
“We saw during the past two farm bills that when one party tries to tear apart the farm bill coalition by going too far on trying to reform SNAP, that the farm bill fails,” said Scott, a Georgia Democrat, using as examples roll call votes in the House that temporarily derailed the 2014 and 2018 farm bills. Both times, Republicans sought large cuts in SNAP spending and to eligibility restrictions.
The senior Republican on the House committee refused to rule out SNAP cuts during a separate appearance at the Agri-Pulse conference, saying, “I don’t know enough because we haven’t heard from USDA.” Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn Thompson said the USDA spent “mind-blowing” sums on public nutrition and the Biden administration, “void of congressional intent,” boosted SNAP spending by $20 billion a year when it recalculated the cost of a healthy diet in 2021.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack defended the increase, equal to $36 a person per month, last August when Republicans said the administration over-reached its authority. The 2018 farm bill directed USDA to update the Thrifty Food Plan, used in setting SNAP benefits. There was broad support in America to help people through hard times, Vilsack said. “This is a program that works.”
In a straw poll, 41 percent of conference attendees said it was “very important” to increase spending on nutrition in the farm bill, nearly one-third said it was “somewhat important” and nearly 30 percent said it was “not very important.” At latest count, 41.4 million people received SNAP benefits of an average $240 per person per month. SNAP cost nearly $109 billion during fiscal year 2021, when benefits were increased temporarily to mitigate the pandemic.
Climate change also will be an important subject for the farm bill, said Scott. “We have to be at the front of the point of the spear when our nation begins to move forward” on climate mitigation, he said. Although the Democrat-drafted “build back better” bill is moribund, there still was the chance to salvage the $22 billion or so in it for USDA stewardship programs, he said. “We are moving on conservation,” he said, adding that he was looking at shifting money into conservation from other parts of the farm bill.
Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow said “we will be dealing with a flat-funded farm bill” if the new conservation money is not available. “If we have those resources for strengthening conservation and some other rural energy programs, that will put us in a much better position to be able to move forward on the farm bill. Otherwise, we are going to be looking for ways to be creative.”