Partisan Divide on Farm Bill Creates Uncertain Future for Food Stamps

image
Published: 25 Jul, 2013
Updated: 14 Oct, 2022
2 min read
Source: redalertpolitics.com

the farm bill

they were "taking food out of the mouths of own poor constituents."

When the House Republicans passed a farm bill earlier this month without including the food stamp funding that has traditionally gone along with such bills, Democratic lawmakers raised an outcry. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the GOP

So, what will happen to food stamps -- now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- now?

A separate food stamp bill may be proposed later, according to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank D. Lucas (R-Okla.). If that doesn't happen, SNAP basically stays the way it is right now.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean all is well. Families receiving food stamps are already slated to take a small monthly cut (estimated at around $25-$30 for a family of three) under current legislation, according to Shannon Spillane, director of communications for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Still, the main point to understand is that SNAP is not being done away with or cut by the Republican farm bill coup. The real danger might be if House Republicans actually do design a separate food stamp bill, Spillane explained.

"We think it is likely the GOP will come up with a SNAP-only bill designed to pass solely with Republican votes, which could contain much deeper cuts than the farm bill that passed the House agricultural committee earlier this year," she said, pointing out that the earlier bill -- which is not the same as the one the House just passed -- would have cut $20 billion from SNAP over 10 years.

So far, the concern seems to center around what Republican lawmakers might do, rather than what has actually been done. Representatives from the Urban Institute and from Feeding America declined to speculate on SNAP's future, underscoring the uncertainty of the current situation.

To complicate matters, President Obama has threatened to veto any farm bill that does not contain food stamp legislation.

IVP Donate

Unless lawmakers find a way around this latest instance of partisan gridlock, it seems likely SNAP will remain mostly untouched for the time being. Until things are resolved, though, some Democratic lawmakers may continue to prey on the fears of those who need the program, in order to gain the support of the lower-income urban demographic.

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read