The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee are working in private on a bipartisan farm bill, according to aides, who declined to suggest when a draft of the bill would be released. The emphasis on bipartisanship contrasted with the political rupture in the House over work requirements for food stamps.
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas and Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the committee, have said repeatedly that they do not plan major changes in SNAP. Asked about the Senate version of the farm bill, a Roberts spokeswoman replied, “Still chugging along and ironing out the details.” A Democratic staffer said negotiations were proceeding toward a bipartisan bill.
The Senate committee has moved more slowly than its House counterpart despite reports of steady progress on a bill. “I don’t know when Roberts is going to get on the stick and have his committee meet,” committee member Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said earlier this week when asked if the panel would vote on the bill in June. “I’ve been wrong three months in a row.”