Conservative lawmakers are trying wrongly to constrain SNAP benefits at the same time they want to expand crop subsidies in the new farm bill, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday. They should use some creativity and look elsewhere, he said.
Republicans in Congress have been irked for two years by the Biden administration’s update of the Thrifty Food Plan, used to calculate SNAP benefits. The 2018 farm bill called for the update, the first in decades, and it resulted in a 25-percent increase in benefits from pre-pandemic levels.
House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson has suggested the new farm bill should mandate that future updates be revenue-neutral. Other Republicans have suggested rollbacks that would cut SNAP spending by 40 percent. Such changes could be combined with other budgetary savings to offset larger outlays in other parts of the farm bill.
Asked about the proposals to tighten the USDA’s leeway in updating the Thrifty Food Plan, Vilsack said SNAP benefits should reflect current conditions and food costs.
“My view about this is I don’t think that 41 million Americans should necessarily sacrifice in order to create more resources for a small number when there are other options available to Congress to resolve the issue,” said Vilsack. “Congress should be creative on this.”
Some 41.4 million Americans were enrolled in SNAP, the largest U.S. antihunger program, at latest count. There are 2 million farms but not all of them receive direct payments from the USDA. Median farm household income is well above the U.S. median.
During a session with reporters at the DC Central Kitchen, a social enterprise nonprofit, Vilsack twice said “a deal is a deal” when rebuffing Republican suggestions to squeeze SNAP, whether through the Thrifty Food Plan language or changes in eligibility rules. The debt limit bill earlier this year revised SNAP eligibility standards. “So the expectation is, I think, that a deal is a deal.” Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow also has said there would be no further SNAP cuts.
Farm bill negotiations have been at an impasse for months over crop subsidies, climate funding, and SNAP outlays.