House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway endured more than three hours of Democratic criticism of his overhaul of the food stamp program yet said he is hopeful of a change of heart when the House debates the farm bill, possibly in early May. The Agriculture Committee approved the bill on a party-line vote, 26-20, on Wednesday.
SNAP is the financial centerpiece of the farm bill, which is estimated to cost $87 billion a year, with three-fourths of it going to food stamps. It has become the overarching issue in the debate over the five-year legislation, and it was virtually the only topic discussed during a five-hour bill-drafting session in which members repeatedly did not respond to Conaway’s invitations for amendments — a burlesque of a committee “markup.”
Conaway would require as many as 8 million “work-capable” adults to work at least 20 hours a week or spend an equal amount of time in workfare or job-training programs to qualify for food stamps. The states would be given $1 billion a year to pay for the training and employment programs, and an estimated 3 million people a year would be assigned to them. The bill also tightens eligibility rules. Democrats say 1.6 million people would leave SNAP because of the changes, 1 million of them because of the work requirements and the monthly paperwork that will be needed to prove compliance.
“No one is kicked off of SNAP due to mandatory work requirements,” said Republican Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania. “They can choose not to participate. By doing so, they elect not to participate in SNAP benefits.”
The GOP-drafted bill jibes with both President Trump’s call for new or stronger work requirements for federal welfare programs and an appetite among House Republicans for welfare reform. “For too long, vague and unenforceable requirements have discouraged work and left many good jobs unfilled,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said the farm bill contained “reforms that will strengthen America’s workforce and help people move out of poverty.”
After the vote in committee, Conaway said the farm bill would be debated on the floor “hopefully, as early in May as we can get.”
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “Democrats cannot support this radical, harmful Republican bill.” Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, a prominent SNAP supporter, said, “I hope every Democrat votes no.”
Republicans control the House 237-193, with five vacancies. But without Democratic support, they would need near-unanimity to pass the bill, since a number of conservative Republicans oppose it. In 2013, Republicans who wanted larger cuts in food stamps and Democratic defenders of SNAP combined to defeat a farm bill for the first time. It took months to reassemble the bill, which finally passed in early 2014. Some Democratic lawmakers say an extension of the 2014 farm law is the most likely result of the partisan split over its replacement.
The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee have said they intend to write a bipartisan bill that will pass with the support of at least 60 and perhaps as many as 70 senators. Republicans hold a 51-49 edge in the Senate.
Long a proponent of work requirements, Conaway has not identified the research or existing programs behind the package, which he assembled in private. Nothing like it was mentioned in the 23 SNAP hearings that his committee held over a two-year period. Democrats say the package is untested and certain to fail because it provides too little money — less than $30 a month per person — to run a high-quality training program and because its paperwork demands will result in states disqualifying many people. Under the plan, a participant’s first violation can result in a one-year suspension of benefits.
“Getting a job clears all that,” said Conaway.
Democrats say Conaway blindsided them by proposing radical changes and then refusing to consider modifications. For his part, Conaway says Democrats cut off discussions in mid-March, so there was no chance to negotiate. In a statement issued after committee approval of the bill, Conaway said Democrats had “turned their backs on America’s heartland” by voting against the bill. “Yet despite this turn of events, I remain hopeful. … I am hopeful Democrats will not hold the nation’s farmers and ranchers hostage in this process over the SNAP work and training requirements.”
Farm bill markups are traditionally long-running business meetings during which dozen of amendments are considered, sometimes over two or three days of work. At Wednesday’s markup, Democrats did not offer any amendments, and Republicans put forward only a handful of mostly minor ones.
The panel raced through the commodity title — home to crop and dairy subsidies and often the scene of protracted debate — in less than a quarter-hour, with no more than brief comments by a few lawmakers. Other sections of the bill, such as ag credit, rural development, and research, got just a few moments’ attention. There is no new funding for the farm bill, and committee leaders have said for months that most programs would be tweaked at best.
Republican Frank Lucas, chairman during the two-and-a-half-year struggle to pass the 2014 farm law, appealed for a rapprochement on the committee riven by SNAP reforms.
“We’re going to have to take a step forward,” said the Oklahoman, to ensure the farm bill is enacted before the 2014 law expires on Sept. 30. “There are many nutrition points that will not be decided here.” Democrat Stacy Plaskett of the Virgin Islands responded, “I do not know why we would want to move forward with a bill that is flawed.”
For the text of the farm bill, click here.
For a section-by-section summary of the bill, click here.
For highlights of the bill, written by Republican staff, click here.