On July 11, the House passed, 216-208, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act, also known as the Farm Bill (H.R. 2642). The House defeated an earlier version of the bill (H.R. 1947) on June 20 (see The Source, 6/21/13); the Senate approved its version of the Farm Bill (S. 954) on June 10 (see The Source, 6/14/13).The current extension of the Farm Bill (P.L. 110-234) expires on September 30.
H.R. 2642 would reauthorize and reform several farm and agricultural programs administered by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The measure would authorize the international food aid programs, such as the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
Nutritional assistance programs, such as Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program), Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the school breakfast and lunch programs, were stripped from this version of the Farm Bill amid controversy that the programs were too susceptible to waste and fraud.
Although H.R. 1947 had been expected to pass the House last month, the measure lost support from Democrats following the adoptionof an amendmentto allow states to apply federal work requirements to SNAP. Citing the need for cuts to SNAP beyond those proposed in H.R. 1947, some Republicans also decided to vote against the bill.
Speaking in opposition to H.R. 2642, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) said, “[C]ontrary to the claims by some, this bill is not identical to the bill we voted on a few weeks ago. The Republican majority has, in fact, dramatically changed this farm bill…Something new in this bill is the repeal of the 1949 permanent law [Agricultural Act of 1949 (P.L. 81-439)]. What does that mean? What impact will that language have on future farm policy? Who knows? There hasn’t been a single hearing on this language; nor has there been a markup. Nothing. Nothing. This bill also eliminates the entire nutrition title, which includes more than just food stamps. It includes moneys for food banks, emergency food assistance, and food for our senior citizens. The whole title is gone…So let’s be clear. This attempt to separate the nutrition title from the rest of the farm bill is all about gutting the nutrition title. It’s all about going after Americans who are struggling in poverty. It’s all about denying the working poor the right to food.”
Agriculture Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) touted the bill’s efforts to improve farm policy, saying, “The bill before us includes 11 of the 12 titles of H.R. 1947, as amended on the House floor last month. To recap, we adopted over 60 amendments in an open process. This bill gives taxpayers nearly $20 billion in savings from mandatory federal spending. It’s the most significant reduction to farm policy in history and further improves agricultural programs so that producers have a true safety net that is triggered only when they suffer significant losses. The bill repeals or consolidates more than 100 programs administered by USDA, including direct payments to farmers. The bill also repeals outdated and unworkable permanent law and replaces it with the cost-effective and market-oriented provisions in title I going forward. This provides certainty to farmers and ranchers and eliminates the threat of government quotas and government price support levels based on 1938 and 1949 agricultural practices and economic conditions.”
