At the same time President Trump signed into law the 2018 farm bill, which modestly strengthens the farm safety net, loosens farm subsidy rules, and legalizes industrial hemp, he announced “immediate action on welfare reform” on Thursday through stricter enforcement of time limits on food stamps to able-bodied adults.
“It’s called work rules, and Sonny is able under this bill to implement them through regulation,” said Trump, referring to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Before dawn on Thursday, the USDA proposed a rule to restrict state use of waivers that allow so-called able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) to receive food stamps for more than the usual limit of 90 days in a three-year period unless they work at least 20 hours a week or spend equal time in job training. The limits on waivers “will help Americans transition from welfare to gainful employment,” Trump said.
“And that was a difficult thing to get done, but the farmers wanted it done. We all wanted it done,” he said.
Congress rejected changes in food stamp benefits in the farm bill. Trump backed an unsuccessful bid by House Republicans for broader and stricter SNAP work requirements. Anti-hunger groups said the USDA package was an end run around Congress and that it would cut off benefits for several hundred thousand ABAWDs.
“While I’m pleased the president has signed the farm bill, I have strong concerns that the administration’s rule on nutrition assistance will take food away from families. I will oppose any attempt by this administration to undermine our bipartisan farm bill that protects food assistance,” said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Jim Weill of the anti-hunger Food Research & Action Center said the waivers of the 90-day limit “are important, albeit insufficient, safety valves for protecting food assistance for persons who are seeking but unable to find sufficient hours of work.” The USDA rule would arbitrarily reduce states’ power to help people in areas with few jobs, he said.
Welfare reform in 1996 set the 90-day limit for ABAWDs. Waivers are allowed in areas with an unemployment rate higher than 10 percent, areas where the unemployment rate is 20 percent above the U.S. average, or areas with insufficient jobs. The proposed rule would require a jobless rate of 7 percent in areas with high relative unemployment and eliminate labor surplus areas as a criterion for a waiver. It also would limit waivers to a 12-month life, prevent states from covering broad swaths of territory with a single waiver, and end the ability of states to stockpile one-month exemptions for a portion of their ABAWD population.
Food stamps account for three-quarters of the cost of the $87-billion-a-year legislation. Farm bills are panoramic, covering USDA activities from farm subsidies and crop insurance to ag research, public nutrition, and forestry.
“We’re here to celebrate a really tremendous victory for the American farmer,” said Trump before signing the bill. “It’s a great bill for them.”
With farm income in a five-year slump and the agriculture sector dealing with the Sino-U.S. trade war, there are already calls for Congress to provide more aid. “As we head into 2019, Farmers Union will continue to push for a stronger farm safety net that reflects the realities of the current farm economy and its implications for the viability of family farm agriculture in the United States,” said Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said bankers have advised him that farm bankruptcies will rise in the new year as farmers strain to meet expenses during a sustained period of low commodity prices.
By coincidence, Trump signed the bill on Perdue’s birthday. “You planned that out, probably like you do everything else,” he said, ribbing Perdue, who later agreed, “It is a great birthday present.”
Under the farm bill, marketing loan rates will rise, there is an escalator provision to boost reference prices, and growers will have the opportunity to update program yields. Premiums for the insurance-like dairy program will be reduced and coverage levels will be more attractive.
The long-term Conservation Reserve Program, which takes fragile land out of production, would expand to 27 million acres, up 3 million. Rental rates will be reduced to offset the cost of the additional acreage, and enrollment in the green-payment program will be limited. Ferd Hoefner of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the budget baseline for working lands conservation will be $5.2 billion lower when Congress writes the 2023 farm bill because of the way the 2018 law is structured.
In the final round of House-Senate negotiations, lawmakers shelved a Senate proposal to limit crop subsidies to farmers, their spouses, and one “manager” per farm in favor of a House provision that would make nieces, nephews, and first cousins of farmers eligible for up to $125,000 a year in subsidies.
To watch a video of the bill signing, click here.