As reported in the New York Times, the House of Representatives passed a farm bill, 251 to 166, ending a two-year period of inaction. The bill, which received bipartisan support, increases the amount the government pays toward crop insurance, but makes significant cuts to food stamps and direct payment farm subsidies. From the Times article:
The new farm bill, which had been mired in partisan gridlock, makes fundamental changes to both nutrition and farm programs. It cuts the food stamp program by $8 billion, and about 850,000 households will lose about $90 in monthly benefits under the change.
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Farm programs were not spared from the cuts in the new bill. The most significant change to farm programs is the elimination of a subsidy known as direct payments. These payments, about $5 billion a year, are paid to farmers whether or not they grow crops, and the issue had become politically toxic over the last several years as farm income has risen to record levels.
Some critics of the bill call the cuts to SNAP benefits “draconian,” and the elimination of subsidies illusory, since the bill increases crop insurance benefits to farmers.
The House breakdown by district on the bill is here.
Here’s the bill from the House Committee on Agriculture’s website.
The Senate is expected to pass the bill and president Obama indicated he will sign it into law, as discussed here.
This post prepared by William Mitchell College of Law student Neil Pederson
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