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House, Senate farm bill summaries show SNAP, climate division

Olivia M. Bridges, CQ-Roll Call on

Published in Political News

WASHINGTON — House and Senate Agriculture committee leaders released summaries of proposed farm bills Wednesday as they ramp up action on agricultural policy legislation, but they remain divided on food stamp benefits and on the use of conservation funds already appropriated.

Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., released a section-by-section summary that she described in a press briefing as “very mainstream,” saying it contains more than 100 bipartisan bills.

“I’ve decided that the best way to jump-start the next steps on negotiation is to actually put out a farm bill. So this is not a framework — this is a farm bill,” Stabenow said. “I feel if this was on the floor right now in the Senate, we could get the bipartisan votes for it.”

House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., made a similar move, releasing a summary and saying that the panel will mark the legislation up on May 23. Stabenow doesn’t now have a markup scheduled.

“I hope for unanimous support in this endeavor to bring stability to producers, protect our nation’s food security, and revitalize rural America,” Thompson said in a statement.

The current farm bill, which expires on Sept. 30, extended policies that were enacted by the 2018 law. Stabenow seemed to suggest another extension will be necessary by saying she hoped the summary would “spur Republicans to return to the negotiating table in good faith and join us in reaching a bipartisan compromise that can be signed into law by the end of the year.”

 

The House summary says the farm bill would include historic funding in the conservation title by reallocating money provided by a 2022 clean energy law. It also would expand covered conservation practices, but doesn’t elaborate.

The use of the 2022 funds has been a red line for Democrats because they want that money to address climate change. The Senate proposal would move the money into the farm bill’s conservation title, but would only make it available for climate-smart programs.

The Senate summary said it would go to fund the Environmental Quality Incentives, Conservation Stewardship, Agricultural Conservation Easement, and Regional Conservation Partnership programs.

Thompson has pushed back on what he calls climate sideboards in the conservation title.

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