On January 29, the House approved, 251-166, the Agricultural Act, more commonly known as the Farm Bill (H.R. 2642). In July 2013, the House approved a version of the bill that did not contain funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) (see The Source, 7/12/13). The Senate passed its version of the Farm Bill (S. 954) on June 10 (see The Source, 6/14/13).
According to the conference report and House Agriculture Committee summary, the legislation would authorize $956.4 billion over ten years for nutrition, agriculture, forestry, and international food assistance programs.
The measure would reauthorize the Food for Peace (P.L. 480) and McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition programs through 2018. The recently enacted FY2014 omnibus spending bill (P.L. 113-76) provided $1.466 billion and $185.126 million, respectively, for the programs (see The Source, 1/17/14).
H.R. 2642 would reauthorize SNAP through 2018 and would make several changes to the program in an effort to reduce fraud and abuse. Among the changes to the program made by the bill, the measure would require recipients of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to receive $20 in annual payments before qualifying to receive SNAP benefits. The original House bill proposed the $20 threshold, while S. 954 proposed a $10 threshold. It is estimated that this change will produce $8.6 billion in savings over ten years. The FY2014 omnibus bill allocated $82.169 billion for SNAP.
Individuals with substantial lottery winnings immediately would be prohibited from receiving SNAP benefits. In addition, the bill would disqualify students from receiving SNAP benefits unless they were enrolled in career and technical education, or “remedial, basic adult education, literacy, or English as a second language courses.” Individuals convicted of particular crimes, including aggravated sexual abuse and sexual assault, also would be disqualified from receiving SNAP benefits.
