The Agriculture Department is moving forward with plans to increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to millions of Americans as called for in an executive order being issued today.

A bipartisan group of senators negotiating a $908 billion coronavirus relief package is circulating a summary of the plan that allocates $13 billion for the agriculture sector. The document was obtained by Agri-Pulse.

The window is closing fast for Congress to agree on funding the government as well as providing more coronavirus assistance to schools and sectors of the economy still reeling from the pandemic.

The Trump administration and House Democrats have yet to reach a coronavirus relief deal, and billions in agriculture funding and food assistance increases hang in the balance as the high-level talks move slowly.

The Department of Agriculture is asking for comments on a proposed rule announced Thursday that USDA says would strengthen state training and employment resources by helping Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program enrollees move toward jobs.

The Democratic-controlled House is supporting a multi-state lawsuit aimed at blocking the Trump administration from making it harder for states to exempt able-bodied adults from work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

A senior Agriculture Department official rejected House Democrats’ demands that USDA pull back a proposal to reduce income eligibility limits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in many states. 

Pressure to address sustainability and nutrition under a common framework is picking up steam as global stakeholders grapple with what it will take to sustainably produce enough food for healthy eating patterns given global population projections 30 years out.

Food-insecure households in the United States, defined as those who “had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources,” declined to prerecession levels last year, USDA's Economic Research Service reported Wednesday.