The House Agriculture Committee voted early on May 24 to advance the 2024 farm bill for consideration by lawmakers on the House floor. The vote on H.R. 8467 followed lengthy deliberations that featured policy clashes over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, climate change, funding structures, and child labor, Bloomberg reported.
The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President and CEO Daren Coppock on May 24 released a statement applauding the bipartisan efforts by the committee to move the farm bill forward.
“ARA applauds members of the House Committee on Agriculture for passing a new five-year Farm Bill out of committee, which included several of ARA’s policy priorities. This is a critical step forward to providing much needed economic certainty for America’s agricultural industry,” Coppock said.
“We are confident that Congress will find a bipartisan agreement that ensures farmers and ranchers are supported in their efforts to meet our nation’s food, fiber, and fuel needs for our growing population,” he added. “ARA urges the House and Senate to vote to pass the five-year Farm Bill this year.”
The 954-page farm bill is projected to cost more than $1 trillion for the first time, Bloomberg reported, and still faces an uphill climb to become law due to divides with the Senate. House Committee Republicans rejected a bid by Democrats to amend “red-line” provisions on nutrition and conservation funding.
The Senate hasn’t yet released its version, though Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and other Democratic leaders framed the GOP House’s version as a partisan hatchet job and discouraged their allies from supporting it, saying it cuts SNAP benefits and puts too many restrictions on USDA’s commodity and conservation programs.
According to Bloomberg, the House bill would tie future food aid increases to food price inflation – but not to other factors, like changing dietary guidance – reducing SNAP benefits by $30 billion over a decade, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. Democrats also drew battle lines around the House plan to redirect money away from climate change mitigation and toward other conservation programs favored by Republicans.
Lawmakers need to clear the legislation before the end of the year or extend the deadline again to avoid programs lapsing.