food stamps
Senate farm bill designed to clear 60-vote hurdle
Roughly 16 months ago, at their first hearing for the 2018 farm bill, Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts and Sen. Debbie Stabenow agreed to write a bipartisan bill that would be enacted on time, a seemingly simple goal that has eluded Congress repeatedly. With a committee vote set for Wednesday on their 1,006-page bill, the two committee leaders say they are on the verge of a major bipartisan victory.
Report: Federal reorganization would move SNAP to ‘welfare’ department
A Trump administration plan to reorganize the federal government would include consolidating food stamps, now run by the USDA, and other social safety net programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Politico.
Toiling to get to go on a farm bill that’s status quo
The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee are treading a surprisingly tortuous path to a bipartisan farm bill that would make no major changes in food stamps, farm supports or crop insurance. They are expected to unveil their package this month, a major advance toward enacting a farm bill before the 2014 law expires on Sept. 30.
House quietly aims for farm bill revival by June 22
Four days after defeating the farm bill, the House quietly delayed Speaker Paul Ryan's attempt to revive the bill until June 22, with GOP leaders hoping that hardline Republicans will vote for it the second time. Members of the House Freedom Caucus provided the decisive votes against the farm bill to underline their demand for a roll call on immigration controls. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
With a bit of help, House GOP breezes past farm bill obstacles
Democrats joined the Republican majority to defeat the final challenges to crop subsidies in the House farm bill on Thursday, immediately followed by two-party teamwork to reject a more stringent line of SNAP work requirements than were written into the bill.
While House smolders, Senate chugs along on farm bill
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 would be released. The emphasis on bipartisanship contrasted with the political rupture in the House over work requirements for food stamps.
Civil rights groups ask for House defeat of farm bill
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of 200 national groups, asked U.S. representatives on Monday to vote "no" on the farm bill, saying stricter work requirments for food stamp recipients "would increase food insecurity and hardship" among poor people. "Imposing barriers to food assistance will not incentivize or equip people with what they need to seek and maintain work," wrote coalition president Vanita Gupta.
In House, ‘a lot of undecideds’ on farm bill
While ready to move on the farm bill, House Republican leaders are giving Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway time to persuade "a lot of undecideds" to vote for tougher work requirements for SNAP recipients and looser subsidy rules for farmers. A sizable number of Republican lawmakers say Conaway wasn't tough enough on either group and want to tighten the access to federal support.
Trump urges speedy work on farm bill; GOP sets House debate
House Republican leaders have scheduled the farm bill for debate next week, confident that when the time comes, a majority will vote for its combination of tougher work requirements for SNAP recipients and looser subsidy rules for farmers.
Trump turns up the heat on work requirements in the farm bill
President Trump’s preference for work requirements in social welfare programs is expected to come up today in a meeting to discuss the farm bill with the chairmen of the House and Senate Agricultural committees.
‘America’s Harvest Box’ is stamped ‘Return to sender’
In a quiet subcommittee vote, Congress declined on Wednesday to take delivery of “America’s Harvest Box,” the Trump administration’s headline-grabbing idea of sending a monthly box of nonperishable foods to SNAP recipients.
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."
House conservatives: End crop subsidies, slash crop insurance, block-grant SNAP
If the House followed the lead of the Republican Study Committee, it would abolish crop and dairy subsidies, slash taxpayer support for crop insurance, phase out the USDA’s two largest soil and water conservation programs, and convert SNAP funding to block grants to states.
The ‘big two’ U.S. ag groups differ on House farm bill, SNAP overhaul
The National Farmers Union said it opposes the Republican-written farm bill awaiting a vote in the House. The American Farm Bureau Federation, for its part, said the partisan split over the bill was not an insurmountable barrier to passing a new farm and public nutrition law this year.
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.
Perdue: Too many states abandoned ‘goal of self-sufficiency’ for SNAP
The Trump administration will hold states accountable "for transitioning able-bodied [SNAP] recipients permanently into the workforce," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in an essay that underlined the White House call for new or tougher work requirements in federal welfare programs. "Too many states have abandoned this goal of self-sufficiency."
GOP-controlled panel approves SNAP overhaul that Democrats say is unworkable
After Democrats spent three hours criticizing House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway’s plan to overhaul SNAP, the committee approved its draft of the farm bill on a party-line vote.
Peterson’s farm bill plan: ‘Ask a lot of questions and vote no’
The Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee said that “you can’t fix a bad bill,” so when the committee meets on Wednesday to vote on the proposed farm bill, “We’re going to ask a bunch of questions and vote no.”
Think tank says SNAP time limit would hit California the hardest
One in six of the older Americans targeted by an expansion of SNAP work requirements in the debt ceiling bill negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden lives in California, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Wednesday.