(WASHINGTON D.C.) — Amid continued partisan fighting, some lawmakers are looking towards getting parts of a new Farm Bill included in the budget reconciliation bill and then looking to complete the rest at a later date.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has indicated that with continued partisan fighting over funding SNAP levels, a reconciliation bill may be the only option left to get parts of the Farm Bill done. But, Grassley says a piecemeal Farm Bill through reconciliation is a double-edged sword.
“The unique aspect would be including some of the traditional 5-year farm bill in reconciliation,” says Senator Grassley. “And then the consideration of that would be, does that weaken our chance of getting the rest of what is generally a massive 5-year farm bill.”
However, urban support would be sacrificed if programs like food stamps are moved to reconciliation according to Grassley. “In order to get a farm bill through the city-controlled House of Representatives, it’s very important that food stamps be a part of it,” says Grassley. “So, if you’re dealing with food stamps in the reconciliation bill, I suppose you could still have provisions on food stamps in the five-year farm bill, but it seems to me, it weakens support for a farm bill.”
Unlike the House, the Senate must abide by the so-called ‘Bird rule’ that prevents legislating on a spending bill.
Meantime, House Ag Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN) is calling for the Farm Bill to be done. “We need a Farm Bill; we need a five-year full Farm Bill,” Craig told RFD-TV. “Unfortunately, right now, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are intending to do what I’m calling a piecemeal deal as part of the budget bill that’s coming up here in Washington over the course of the next couple of weeks.”
Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) recently said he wants to update safety nets and crop insurance through that bill. SNAP is another area likely to see significant debate. Thompson has stated that no cuts will be made to those who rely on those benefits.
Politico has reported this week that House Republicans are preparing one of the largest overhauls to the country’s largest anti-hunger programs in decades, with a plan to limit future increases to benefits, implement new work requirements and push costs to states in a move that risks millions of low-income Americans being removed from the program.
SOURCE: NAFB News Service, Matt Kaye/Berns Bureau, Politico
