The 2023 farm bill is headed for defeat if Republican leaders meddle with SNAP, said Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee on Monday, pointing to floor votes that delayed enactment of the 2014 and 2018 bill. It was the second warning by the committee’s Democrats against additional cuts in food stamps following revisions in the debt limit deal in June.
“You have seen what happens when leadership gets involved in dictating the details of the farm bill, particularly when the issue involved is SNAP, the safety net for America’s working poor and elderly,” said the 25 Democrats in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “The failures of the 2014 and 2018 House versions of the farm bill their first time up for consideration caused a great deal of anxiety in rural America.”
In the debt limit legislation, Congress broadened the age group of people who are limited to 90 days of SNAP benefits in a three-year period unless they work at least 80 hours a month. McCarthy twice suggested, “Let’s get the rest of the work requirements” during a news conference after House approval of the debt bill. Since then, Republican conservatives have proposed additional cuts in SNAP — such as limiting state power to exempt some recipients from work requirements — as part of the fiscal 2024 USDA-FDA funding bill, which awaits a vote in the House.
Conservative lawmakers sought large cuts in SNAP in the 2014 and 2018 farm bills, so the new farm bill is a logical target. The Democrats’ letter told McCarthy that “continued comments from your leadership team … could jeopardize the consideration and passage of a bipartisan farm bill in the House.”
House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson has left open the question of further cuts in SNAP. During a committee hearing in June, he said that too many Americans participate in public nutrition programs, a critique that seemed to include school lunches. “My goal is preservation [of aid] for those truly in need,” he said. The farm bill ought to “foster self-sufficiency, promote health, explore innovation, and ensure taxpayer resources are used most effectively.” A witness from a conservative think tank called for “commonsense restrictions on SNAP purchases,” including a soda ban.
Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee said, “We have been heartened by Chairman Thompson’s comments to date about the bill being bipartisan and not going after SNAP.” A Thompson aide pointed to the chairman’s comments at the June 7 hearing when asked about his goals for SNAP in the farm bill. Thompson has said he plans to assemble a farm bill draft this month. At the June 7 hearing, Democrats said they were united in support of SNAP.
SNAP accounts for $4 of every $5 in farm bill outlays. Some 41.9 million people were enrolled in SNAP at latest count, with benefits of $6 a day per person.
The debt limit deal requires so-called ABAWDs — able-bodied adults without dependents ages 18 to 55 — to work at least 80 hours a month or be limited to 90 days of SNAP benefits in a three-year period. Until now, the time limit, also called a work requirement, applied to ABAWDs ages 18 to 50.