The long-stalled farm bill took a step forward in the House of Representatives last month as a Republican-led proposal made it out of the agriculture committee.
The clock is ticking as the extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, which expired eight months ago, ends in September.
Yet food assistance will likely be a flashpoint in the discussions ahead.
rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program monthly to put food on the table. The program takes a lot of funding 鈥�
House farm bill proposal聽
The House draft suggests placing limits on how the Thrifty Food Plan is updated in the future. The Thrifty Food Plan is a basket of foods that represents a 鈥渘utritious, practical, cost-effective diet prepared at home鈥� for a family of four,
The money people receive through SNAP is calculated by how much that basket of food costs.
Right now, the plan is updated based on food prices, food composition data, consumer data and dietary standards. The new proposal suggests updating the cost of the plan only for inflation.
According to 鈥� a Republican from Pennsylvania 鈥� the nonpartisan estimates the limit would cut SNAP by $30 billion over the next 10 years.
鈥淭he cut would take away a day鈥檚 worth of benefits from the participants each month, then it would rise to two days of benefits each day,鈥� said from Connecticut during discussions. 鈥淵ou may think losing one or two days of food is not significant. But I do think it鈥檚 quite significant for a low-income family trying to make ends meet.鈥�
But from Missouri said he鈥檚 focused on making the program more efficient, not slashing benefits.
鈥淒emocrats feel like we鈥檙e trying to cut the program. And that鈥檚 not the case,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we can move to a program that has more integrity, more health benefits, it is going to be greater for our nation and greater for our taxpayers.鈥�
Alford points to that would allow frozen and canned produce to be covered, create an accountability office and expand eligibility for the program.
Other SNAP proposals in the House鈥檚 farm bill draft would:
- Add frozen, fresh, canned and dried fruits and vegetables as SNAP-eligible products
- Create an office of program integrity to focus on SNAP and address erroneous payments and other inefficiencies
- Allow individuals with past drug offenses to receive SNAP
- Direct the USDA to issue formal guidance on notifying eligible college students that they qualify for SNAP
鈥淲e don鈥檛 feel there are cuts to SNAP 鈥� we鈥檙e just tightening up some of the issues,鈥� Alford said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want anyone who is truly hungry, truly needy and can鈥檛 work to go to bed hungry at night.鈥�
Megan Hamann, a community organizer focused on food and nutrition access with , said framing limits to the Thrifty Food Plan as anything but cuts to SNAP is a 鈥減retty problematic characterization, because it would erode SNAP鈥檚 buying power over time.鈥�
鈥淪o while families wouldn鈥檛 see their benefits go down in an immediate sense, SNAP would be increasingly less efficient as time goes on,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat we would see is a decline in how well the program actually works in people鈥檚 lives.鈥�
Hamann said she hopes the can find support, which would maintain the regular re-evaluation of SNAP benefits.
The House鈥檚 draft has a long way to go before it makes it into law as the new farm bill; it will need final passage in the House and endorsement from the Senate.
鈥淓veryone knows that this bill would never become law. The Senate won鈥檛 accept it and the administration won鈥檛 accept it,鈥� Rep. David Scott of Georgia, the ranking Democrat on the House鈥檚 Agriculture committee, said during discussions. 鈥淎nd while this bill is a giant misstep, it nevertheless begins our journey toward passing a farm bill.鈥�
This story was produced in partnership with a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
