Farm bill
The farm bill expressway slows down in the House
The route to House passage of the farm bill is nothing like the speedy trip that Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway envisioned early this year. Instead of motoring to a floor vote immediately after committee approval of the legislation, Conaway is crawling along in the parliamentary slow lane, trying to round up enough Republican support to pass the most partisan farm bill in years.
Conaway seeks ‘Trump-style loyalty pledge’ for farm bill, say Democrats
Michael Conaway says House Republican leaders will strong-arm opponents out of the way of floor passage of his farm bill, which will toughen work requirements for SNAP benefits while relaxing subsidy rules. According to Conaway, no one will be allowed to offer an amendment to the bill without promising beforehand to vote for passage, prompting four key Democrats to accuse Conaway of demanding "a Trump-style loyalty pledge."
Navigating SNAP presents special challenges for the mentally ill
In the third installment of a five-part investigation into SNAP, Harvest Public Media explores how work requirements, the recertification process, and shame can prevent people with mental illness from accessing crucial nutrition services.
Step by step, seeking a bipartisan farm bill in the Senate
Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee said they are working on a bipartisan farm bill, in contrast to the Republican-written bill awaiting a vote in the House, but offered no suggestion on Tuesday as to when it will be ready. A month ago, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts warned Congress must move briskly on a bill this spring or forfeit passage this year.
Senators protest using farmers as pawns in China-U.S. trade battle
Farm bill? Rural America doesn’t have the time.
The farm bill was the missing topic during a 45-minute session recently with farmers in southwestern Missouri, recalls Sen. Roy Blunt. "The farm bill never came up." Instead, growers talked about threats to farm exports, over-regulation and the need for rural broadband. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says low commodity prices, the slump in farm income, attacks on corn ethanol and, most of all, anxiety about a possible trade war are the top concerns in farm country. <strong>No paywall</strong>
GOP work rules would end or reduce SNAP for 1 million households
The work requirements for SNAP recipients proposed by House Republicans "would cause more than a million low-income households with about 2 million people — particularly low-income working families with children —- to lose their benefits altogether or have them reduced," said Robert Greenstein, the head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "We really believe they need to go back to the drawing board," saying the package is too poorly designed to be salvaged by amendment.
GOP sees a path out of poverty, but SNAP defenders see a scam
Millions of poor Americans will gain the opportunity for a better way of life if Congress toughens the work requirements for SNAP recipients and offers job training to them, says conservative Texas Rep. Micheal Conaway, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The Republican-controlled panel could approve Conaway's restructuring of the largest U.S. anti-hunger program today, clearing the politically charged bill for an election-year floor vote.
Poll finds farmers support sustainable agriculture policies
A new poll conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists of more than 2,800 farmers across 7 states found that farmers support more sustainable agriculture policies, including those that support conservation and alternative pathways to market, like food hubs or farm-to-school programs.
White House embraces work requirements as SNAP debate nears
President Trump put his weight behind new or stronger work requirements for "work-capable people" enrolled in federal welfare programs in an Executive Order released on Tuesday. Trump ordered eight federal departments, including USDA, to see if stronger work rules are needed within the "public assistance programs of their respective agencies." Meanwhile, House Democrats say SNAP faces a radical, and unworkable, overhaul at the hands of Republicans in the name of work requirements and job training.
SNAP works ‘pretty well,’ doesn’t need an overhaul, says Glickman
Congress ought to focus on the "N" - nutrition - in SNAP rather than pursue stricter work requirements on food stamp recipients, said former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman, in remarks aimed at House Republican farm bill proposals.
Local food advocates prepare to defend SNAP
Defending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was the top priority of attendees at a convening yesterday of 63 sustainable agriculture and food access organizations in Washington, D.C. The meeting was to prepare members of the Good Food for All coalition to lobby Congress on the 2018 farm bill.
Leaders of House ag panel appeal for no cuts to farm bill funding
Members of the House Agriculture Committee approved a letter to the chamber's budget writers that asked for full funding of USDA programs, so they can write a strong 2018 farm bill. Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX) said he aimed for a committee vote on the bill in March and the lead Democrat on the panel, Collin Peterson (D-MN), said he expected attempts during floor debate to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the bill.
Farm sector shrugs off Trump proposals for farm bill cuts
The largest U.S. farm group and the crop insurance industry say President Trump's proposals to slash crop insurance funding and to deny farm payments to the wealthiest producers will have no lasting impact.
The farm bill problem: More ideas than money to pay for them
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, says there is a recurring challenge as committee leaders draft an outline of the 2018 farm bill: "The big problem is we haven't got any money." The Agriculture Committee appealed for additional funding early this year but the budget plan approved by Congress kept funding steady.
Streamline U.S. food aid programs in 2018 farm bill, say researchers
"U.S. food aid, totaling $2.4 billion a year, is a highly visible symbol of Americans' commitment to assist the downtrodden wherever they are in the world," write three analysts in an American Enterprise Institute paper that calls for sweeping reform. The paper recommends that the 2018 farm bill eliminate the requirement that half of U.S. food aid travel on U.S. ships, the "safe box" that earmarks money for local food projects and away from emergency aid, and also do away with restrictions on cash-based food aid.
Rep. Blumenauer’s ‘outsider’ farm bill comes in from the cold
An amalgam of budget hawks, environmentalists and food movement activists are scheduled to call for reform of U.S. food and ag policy today as Rep. Earl Blumenauer unveils legislation to challenge the farm bill being assembled by the House Agriculture Committee.
SNAP benefits inadequate for healthy diet
A comparison of food stamp benefits and federal dietary guidelines finds that the premiere U.S. antihunger program "only covers 43-60 percent of what it costs to consume ... a healthy diet," says North Carolina State University. "The study highlights the challenges lower-income households face in trying to eat a healthy diet."
Trump and Vance oppose funding bill that includes farm aid
President-elect Donald Trump called for a “streamlined spending bill” that also increases the federal debt ceiling on Wednesday as a replacement for the three-month government funding bill that congressional leaders produced the preceding day. That bill included $10 billion to offset a decline in farm income and $21 billion in disaster relief for agriculture.