With Congress resuming work after its summer recess, Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow said she would do “everything in my power to pass a farm bill” this year. Farm-state lawmakers have been deadlocked for weeks over SNAP funding, higher crop subsidy spending, and climate mitigation.
“We need a farm bill that protects critical food assistance for families and provides support farmers need to thrive,” said Stabenow. “That has always been the foundation of the farm bill, pairing farm and family coalitions together and working toward a common goal — not pitting one against the other.”
House and Senate Republicans have insisted on a 15 percent increase in so-called reference prices, which would make it easier to trigger subsidy payments for row crops, with the cost offset in part by a $29 billion cut in SNAP funding. They also would allow a windfall of $13 billion for climate mitigation to be spent on conservation practices that do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon.
Stabenow’s description of the ideal farm bill coalition was similar to previous statements. She has proposed an increase of at least 5 percent in reference prices, no cut in SNAP funding, and keeping the guardrails on climate funding. In a statement on Friday, Stabenow said USDA reports showing an increase in food insecurity and a decline in farm income were proof it was time for action.
The House has yet to act on the Republican-written farm bill, HR 8467, that was approved by its Agriculture Committee on May 24. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill was $33 billion over budget, mostly due to increased spending on commodity supports. Congressional Republicans have blamed farm bill inaction on the Senate.
“It’s time to put partisan bickering aside and pass a farm bill,” said House Agriculture chairman Glenn Thompson after the farm income estimate was released. He said his committee’s bill “is the legislative remedy our rural communities so desperately want.”
A one-year extension of the2018 farm bill expires on Sept. 30, but the lapse would not be felt until January, beginning with milk prices.
House Republicans did not include a farm-bill extension last week when they proposed to fund the government for six months, until March 28, with spending pro-rated at this fiscal year’s levels. Otherwise, funding would run out at the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30. As part of the funding bill, Republicans included the so-called SAVE Act, which would require states to obtain proof of citizenship when people register to vote. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote. Senate Democrats and the Biden administration oppose the SAVE Act, which passed the House, 221-198, on July 10.
“Speaker [Mike] Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Appropriations chairwoman Patty Murray. “The House Republican funding proposal is an ominous case of déjà vu.”