I wrote in the last Legislative Landscape about the stated commitment of the new House majority to reduce federal spending and with the farm bill up for reauthorization, it will be a challenge to increase funding for critical farm bill programs.
A second challenge facing the farm bill reauthorization – still related to funding – is the growing cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that some of you may remember as food stamp and school nutrition programs.
This week the Congressional Budget Office is raising its cost estimate for SNAP by $93 billion over the next 10 years, or about 8.4%, due in part to expected benefit recalculations authorized by the 2018 farm bill. The increased CBO estimate for SNAP will provide new fodder for congressional Republicans, who allege Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack mishandled a provision in the 2018 law — which called for a reconsideration of SNAP's benefit calculation — to increase SNAP benefits more than was justified. USDA was required to recalculate a formula used to set benefits known as the Thrifty Food Plan. Under the law, the recalculation is to happen every five years, with the first occurrence happening in 2021. The CBO estimate assumes additional increases in SNAP benefits because of future TFP modifications in 2026 and 2031.
The Thrifty Food Plain is supposed to reflect the cost of a healthy diet for a budget-conscious family.
The Senate Agriculture Committee's top Republican, John Boozman of Arkansas, said in a statement that the CBO forecast "shows that the Biden administration’s improper sloppy reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan will continue to dramatically increase SNAP spending during the span of the next farm bill and drives the cost of the legislation to record heights."
CBO's last forecast of SNAP spending, issued in May 2022, estimated the program would cost taxpayers $1.1 trillion from 2023 through 2032, or more than 80% of total farm bill spending. The new estimate, which also reflects an expected increase in the number of SNAP recipients, adds $93 billion to the May 2022 estimate.
The higher CBO estimate could put a bigger target on SNAP in the coming farm bill debate.
Its not only the SNAP cost that will be hotly debated. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested this week that Republicans may focus on SNAP work requirements which were a subject of controversy in debates over the 2014 and 2018 farm bills.