Thanks to Senator Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) and Rep. Collin Peterson’s (MN-07) leadership, lawmakers passed a final Farm Bill that invests in rural communities, provides needed certainty to farmers and producers, creates new opportunities for beginning and underserved farmers, and gives struggling families access to healthy foods. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate worked across the aisle to negotiate a final bill that includes critical support for farmers, rural communities, and working families and rejects conservative proposals like cutting access to food stamps after Republicans held up the bill for months to make these poison-pill demands.
The final Farm Bill protects food stamps, rejecting Republican efforts to cut access to nutrition assistance.
Politico: “The deal is a win for Democrats, who unanimously opposed the House plan to impose stricter work requirements on millions of participants in SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. SNAP helps nearly 40 million low-income Americans buy groceries and accounts for more than 75 percent of the farm bill’s total price tag.”
CNBC: “The massive bill left out the controversial stricter work requirements sought by House Republicans for people getting food stamps, or participants in the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Democrats opposed adding the tougher work requirements that would have cut or reduced benefits for more than 2 million people.”
Continue reading “Final Farm Bill Rejects GOP Attempts to Dismantle Nutrition Programs”