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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Fresh off last week's debt ceiling bill and this week's extensive hearing on federal nutrition programs, discussion around the future of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is at the top of the agenda for many in farm policy.
In this opinion piece, the president and CEO of the American Frozen Food Institute Alison Bodor discusses the importance of allowing frozen fruit and vegetable products in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Witnesses at a House Ag hearing on nutrition programs called for a stronger emphasis on health outcomes and improving job opportunities for those receiving food assistance. Committee members, meanwhile, used the hearing to vocalize their positions on potential reforms in the coming farm bill.
Congressional approval of the debt ceiling agreement between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has triggered a new debate about the impact of the changes made to SNAP work requirements, with Republicans insisting they take another crack at the issue during the upcoming farm bill.
The GOP-controlled House overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation Wednesday evening to avert a first-ever government default, impose caps on federal spending and make the first major changes to SNAP work requirements in decades.
Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees say the debt limit agreement should remove SNAP work requirements as a potential sticking point in the upcoming farm bill debate, but also said the deal takes away some potential funding.
House Republicans who have been struggling unsuccessfully for years to tighten work rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program scored a win in the debt limit negotiations that would expand the requirements to people in their early 50s, but President Joe Biden also won key new exemptions for veterans and people who are homeless.
House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger on Tuesday postponed scheduled action on the fiscal 2024 Agriculture spending bill and three other measures, citing the ongoing negotiations with the White House over the debt ceiling limit.
The chief economist for Senate Ag Committee’s Republican staff says the Congressional Budget Office’s new farm program forecast does nothing to help lower the cost of making improvements in commodity programs that ag groups are seeking.
