By Grant Gerlock
A tentative deal for the next farm bill is on the table, congressional leaders said Thursday. But the compromise appears to do away with a controversial plan for people who receive federal food assistance.
Politico and Bloomberg both reported that House Republicans backed off of a controversial proposal to place stricter work requirements on federal food aid recipients.
Minnesota Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson’s office would not confirm the food-aid part of the bill to Harvest Public Media, and the office for the Senate Ag Committee chairman, Kansas Republican Pat Roberts, didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
The bill will need approval from the lame-duck House and Senate before they break for the holidays in mid-December.
“Right now, we’ve got staff feverishly working to finish the language of the bill, get the conference report written,” said Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Ag Committee. “We only have two weeks to get (the bill) done and time is of the essence.”
Here’s a breakdown of the known main components of the bill; this story will update in the coming days as more details are released or confirmed.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
The main federal food aid program for nearly 40 million Americans was the main thing holding up the final round of negotiations on the farm bill.
Roberts told the Kansas City Star that the compromise bill is closer to the Senate’s version than the House’s version, which would require 3.5 million more adults to maintain eligibility for SNAP by either working 20 hours per week or attending job training.
Currently, only so-called able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) from 18 to 49 years old fall under those work requirements. Harvest reported earlier this year that the House's proposal would have upped the age to 59 years old and added parents of children over 6 years old.
Republicans said extending work requirements would push more people into the job market, and they had the support of Trump. But it appeared to be a political necessity to remove them from the farm bill, as Senate Democrats had made it clear they would block the bill if the work requirements were included.
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