2018 farm bill
Administration would toughen 90-day limit on food stamps
On Thursday, hours before President Trump was expected to sign the farm bill, the administration has proposed restricting the power of states to waive the usual 90-day limit on food stamps for able-bodied adults who do not work at least 20 hours a week.
Trump hints he’ll sign farm bill this week
The farm bill "is in very, very good shape," according to President Trump, who hinted that he will sign the bill into law this week. "So we’ll get the farm bill. Got to take care of the farmers. But it’s just been something very, very exciting," said Trump over the weekend.
Farm bill 2018: Late, yes, but not as late as some
The 2018 farm bill, which President Trump could sign into law as early as next week, is more than two months overdue, largely because of a fight over SNAP work requirements that led Rep. Collin Peterson to say, “I don’t know if we’re ever going to get another one done.” The past decade has provided ample reason for doubt.
With a few GOP regrets, House sends farm bill to Trump for signature
United in a bipartisan embrace, the House sent the status-quo 2018 farm bill to President Trump after a landslide 369-47 vote on Wednesday, with only a few Republicans openly lamenting that the bill will not impose stricter work requirements for SNAP recipients.
Farm bill to help hemp grow into a multibillion-dollar industry
Farm bill makes distant relatives eligible for subsidies
Congress is expected to send President Trump a farm bill this week that makes nieces, nephews and first cousins of farmers eligible for crop subsidies, a setback in the decades-old drive to control farm spending. Farm groups learned of the decision ahead of the formal release of the final version of the bill. House and Senate negotiators signed the so-called conference report on Monday, the first step toward a final vote on the $87 billion-a-year bill.
Status-quo farm bill nears victory with modifications already in the air
After months as an ideological flashpoint, a toned-down farm bill is on track for bipartisan passage in Congress this week, shorn of a proposal for stricter SNAP work requirements. Enactment won't end debate over the status-quo legislation. "It can't come soon enough and when it comes, it will not be enough," said president Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union.
Wary Democrats slow path for USDA civil rights nominee
The Senate Agriculture Committee cleared three USDA nominees for a floor vote on Wednesday, but significant Democratic opposition could prevent a confirmation vote this year on Naomi Earp, President Trump’s pick to be the agency’s assistant secretary for civil rights.
Farm bill would loosen subsidy rules
With the farm bill potentially days away from congressional approval, House and Senate negotiators are ready to let distant relatives of farmers qualify for crop subsidies, said an ag lobbyist. Agricultural leaders in Congress hope to release details of the 2018 farm bill early this week, which would open the path to a final vote in each chamber in a matter of days.
Subsidy reform gets short shrift in farm bill
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley feigned shock on Thursday that House and Senate negotiators did not want his farm subsidy reform in the final version of the five-year farm bill. “Surprise, surprise, surprise,” he said scornfully.
On Capitol Hill, tentative agreement for a ‘status quo’ farm bill
With congressional leaders calling the shots on forestry language, and with an incendiary Republican proposal for strict SNAP work requirements apparently off the table, negotiators reached a tentative agreement Wednesday on a farm bill that is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Farm bill talks focus on subsidy payments for extended family
House and Senate negotiators are considering whether to expand farm subsidies and make cousins, nieces and nephews of farmers eligible for up to $125,000 a year in crop supports, said a handful of budget hawks, environmentalists and small-farm advocates on Monday. House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway "has made this is biggest goal to achieve in the farm bill," said Nan Swift of the National Taxpayers Union.
Fighting fires, or shifting public lands from federal control?
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, in a press briefing Tuesday on California’s raging forest fires, called for more management of federal forest lands to be shifted to local authorities, arguing that this would help prevent fires.
As Finance chairman, Grassley wants ‘more middle-income tax cuts’
When he used the power of seniority to claim chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee in the new session of Congress, Iowa’s Chuck Grassley said he wanted greater tax fairness for Americans. Many farm groups share his goal of additional tax relief.
Trump tariff payments flow to cities as well as rural mailboxes
More than 1,100 of the early recipients of Trump tariff payments intended to offset the impact of the trade war on U.S. agriculture actually live in America’s largest cities, said the Environmental Working Group on Monday. The bailout recipients are the latest “city slickers” identified by the EWG for collecting federal subsidies without living or working on a farm. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Silence inside farm bill negotiations, while outsiders call for reform
Working under the gun, Senate and House negotiators are exchanging proposals to resolve intractable disputes over the 2018 farm bill, with the hope of agreement as early as today. While the “four corners,” as the four lead negotiators are known, are working in private, there are last-minute calls from outside for reform.
House ag sends farm bill to Senate, reports say
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway has backed off dramatic changes to SNAP in the stalled $87 billion farm bill, sealing a deal with ranking Democrat Collin Peterson and sending a version of the bill to the Senate, according to press reports.
Trump and McConnell discuss farm bill as part of lame duck agenda
While some analysts expressed skepticism about passage of the farm bill, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed the bill among must-do legislation on Thursday for action in the brief congressional post-election session.
Farmers to get $10 billion in economic assistance
President Biden signed a stop-gap government funding bill over the weekend that calls for speedy payment of $10 billion to farmers to buffer lower commodity prices and high production costs. Congress voted to fund the government through March 14 after a fight that showed the limits of President-elect Trump's control over Republican lawmakers.