FARM BILL UPDATE

There appears to be a concerted push to try to put to rest the remaining farm bill disputes before Congress leaves Friday for a week-long recess. But at this point a draft isn't expected to be released before next week’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day recess. Formal legislative work could begin on it the week after, but this would be complicated by a three-day House GOP retreat that week. Dairy and payment limits on farm subsidies are now the two biggest areas of dispute. 

Differences between the House and Senate over SNAP seem to have been reconciled. The bill will likely cut SNAP by $8.6 billion over 10 years. This would be accomplished by limiting states’ ability to boost benefits by coordinating SNAP with the Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), also known as “heat and eat.” Heat and eat helps SNAP families to heat their homes and have money to buy food. These cuts would require that families receive at least $20 in LIHEAP aid in order to be eligible for heat and eat. This change will affect about 850,000 households, many with elderly or disabled members, who will lose approximately $90 in their SNAP benefits. 

 

Source: Center for Law and Social Policy, 1/13/14, Farm Bill; Politico, 1/16/14, Farm Bill II