The fiscal 2016 budget resolution proposed by Senate Budget chairman Mike Enzi calls for large cuts in discretionary spending outside of the military, which could include food stamps, but does not specifically ask for cuts in the farm program. During committee debate, Democrat Debbie Stabenow said 400 farm, conservation, anti-hunger and rural-development groups were on record against any cuts beyond the $23 billion required by the 2014 farm law.
The Enzi proposal calls for cuts of $660 billion over 10 years in “income security” programs, which include food stamps, school lunch, Supplemental Security Income, the earned-income tax credit, unemployment insurance and federal retirement programs, said the think tank Center of Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). The impact would be “large cuts in many programs for people in need,” it said, but there was no information on which programs would be cut or by how much. According to the New York Times, the Senate plan “repeals the Affordable Care Act, turns Medicaid and food stamps into block grants and cuts domestic programs to balance the budget by 2025 without tax increases.”
By comparison, House Budget chairman Tom Price has proposed a $1 billion cut in USDA programs and converting food stamps to a block-grant program. CBPP said Price’s proposal “would cut roughly $125 billion” from food stamps.
“We hope by the time the final resolution is crafted, the House will agree with the Senate to leave the farm bill alone in the budget resolution,” said the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. “The appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016, though, remains the focus of our attention, as it too can be used to re-open the farm bill, as in fiscal year 2015.”
Agri-Pulse said Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake plans a number of amendments, to be offered during debate on the non-binding budget resolution, to reduce spending on the federally subsidized crop-insurance program. A Government Accountability Office report found that cutting the premium subsidy for the wealthiest farmers would have minimal effect on the program, said Agri-Pulse.
To read the fiscal 2016 budget resolution proposed by Senate Budget chairman Mike Enzi, and his talking points for it, click here. To read the House proposal and supplemental documents, click here.