The Debt Bill now under consideration by the Senate has implications for the outlook of the farm bill. Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees say the debt limit agreement should remove SNAP work requirements as a potential sticking point in the upcoming farm bill debate, but also said the deal takes away some potential funding.
The agreement to increase the debt ceiling claws back some unspent pandemic assistance to reduce the deficit. Leaders of the committees disagreed on whether there would still be a significant amount of additional, unobligated funding that could be moved into the farm bill to shore up commodity programs and other provisions.
The agreement “takes the issue of SNAP work requirements off the table,” Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, told reporters Tuesday evening. “So, that's just one less issue we're going to have to negotiate.”
“I think it helps the farm bill process, absolutely,” House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson told Agri-Pulse about the agreement on SNAP work requirements.
The debt ceiling bill, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act, increases the maximum age for SNAP work requirements from 49 to 54, but also adds exemptions for the homeless, veterans and young people under 24 who have left the foster care system. The House Rules Committee advanced the bill Tuesday evening, clearing the way for a Wednesday vote to send the measure to the Senate.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated Tuesday that the SNAP provisions would wind up costing taxpayers $2.1 billion over 10 years because 78,000 people would gain benefits in an average month due to the new exemptions, which more than offset the impact of the increased age limit.
The Senate is expected to complete action on the Debt Bill by Monday, June 5.