From the Food Research and Action Center (http://www.frac.org):
On November 29, Senate and House Agriculture Committee Chairmen Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Ranking Members Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) issued a joint statement: “We’re pleased to announce that we’ve reached an agreement in principle on the 2018 Farm Bill. We are working to finalize legal and report language as well as CBO scores, but we still have more work to do. We are committed to delivering a new farm bill to America as quickly as possible.” The tentative deal reportedly follows the Senate’s lead in largely maintaining current SNAP law. By contrast, the House Farm Bill proposed cutting SNAP food benefits by approximately $20 billion over 10 years. For updates on legislative developments, follow @fractweets and watch for postings to FRAC’s Legislative Action Center.
Farm Bill Message
Don’t cut SNAP; don’t take food out of the refrigerators and off the tables of needy Americans. Instead strengthen SNAP, including by improving benefit adequacy. Follow this link to letters, statements, op-eds, and resolutions from a variety of stakeholders urging Congress to protect SNAP. Use this information to contact your legislators. Find contact information:
- Senator Robert Casey: http://casey.senate.gov
- Senator Pat Toomey: http://toomey.senate.gov
- Your Representative: http://www.house.gov
More:
Top farm bill negotiators said today they have reached a tentative deal, offering hope of breaking a month’s long impasse over commodity and food stamp policy that would pave the way for Congress to send compromise legislation to President Donald Trump before the end of the year.
The big four agriculture leaders said in a joint statement they have agreed to a deal “in principle” and that they’re waiting on final cost estimates and finalizing language. They cautioned that “we still have more work to do.”
Lawmakers this week had to work out a snag on forestry in order to reach a deal. After the destructive California wildfires, the administration made a public push to exempt certain forest-management practices from extensive environmental reviews. That is similar to what the House bill had proposed, but the Senate was not on board with that approach. Details of how the forestry issue was resolved weren’t immediately clear.
Congress has more work to do before the sweeping bill governing agriculture, nutrition and rural policy can become law: Once a conference report is finalized, each chamber must pass the measure in December. The 2014 farm bill expired on Oct. 1.
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