Congress was expected to pass a $900 billion coronavirus package on Monday that includes a temporary 15-percent increase in SNAP benefits and up to $8.2 billion for farmers and ranchers. House and Senate leaders announced agreement on the package on Sunday evening. President-elect Biden, while applauding the package, said he will propose additional aid as soon as he takes office.
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the bipartisan package would increase SNAP benefits by 15 percent for six months, or around $27 per person per month. Anti-hunger advocates have pressed for a temporary increase in benefits since the start of the pandemic, saying it would curb hunger and act as an economic stimulant, but the White House and Senate Republicans objected until now.
“As many as 50 million Americans are not able to feed themselves and their families,” said Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees public nutrition and the farm program. “After months of pushing for a critical SNAP increase and other funding to address the hunger crisis in our country, I am very pleased that we finally reached a bipartisan agreement that will help both families and farmers in need.”
Besides the temporary increase in SNAP, Stabenow said the package provides $400 million for food banks, expands P-EBT to cover all children under age 6, allots $400 million for a dairy product donation program, and earmarks $175 for nutrition services, such as Meals on Wheels, for the elderly.
Aid to farmers and ranchers would include $5 billion for payments of $20 an acre to producers of row crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat; up to $3 billion for payments to cattle producers, contract growers of poultry and livestock, dairy farmers and farmers forced to cull livestock and poultry because of the pandemic; and $225 million to fruit, vegetable and nut growers who lost crops in 2019.
The text of the legislation was expected to be released on Monday. Stabenow said it will include an overall $13 billion in food purchases, direct support to agriculture and projects to build resiliency into the food supply chain. For example, there would $100 million for block grants for specialty crop research and promotion, $100 million for farmers markets and other local marketing, and 460 million for modernizing small meat and poultry processing plants.
“Our work is far from over,” said Biden in a statement. “Immediately, starting in the new year, Congress will need to get to work on support for our Covid-19 plan, for support to struggling families and investments in jobs and economic recovery.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement, “Democrats secured $13 billion in increased SNAP and child nutrition benefits to help relieve the historic hunger crisis that has left up to 17 million children food insecure.”