On May 1, 2024, House Agriculture Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-PA) unveiled an initial summary of the House Republican Farm bill, which encompasses important nutrition programs. A follow-up summary with additional detail was released on May 10th, providing more specific information about the various titles. Legislative text has not been released but is expected sometime this week.
The bill would change the calculations in determining benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by no longer allowing benefit increases based on Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) updates, saving $30 billion over ten years. The TFP, created in 1975, is the cheapest of four U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans, representing the weekly cost of buying food to maintain a healthy diet. This plan determines the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) monthly benefit based on current dietary guidelines, food consumption data, and cost of food items at retailers. The update in FY 2022 of the TFP resulted in a 21 percent increase in SNAP benefits. Although Chairman Thompson has stated that there are no cuts to SNAP, this proposal makes future cuts that will greatly impact families. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released this brief outlining the impact of this proposal. The Food Research & Action Center has created this one-pager with more information on the TFP.
Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a very different framework for the Farm Bill, the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, including a section-by section summary and a nutrition fact sheet. This package includes more than 100 bipartisan bills. Provisions in the Senate Democrats’ bill include: removing the lifetime ban on receiving SNAP for individuals convicted of a drug related felony who have served their time; making it easier for former foster youth in higher education to more easily access SNAP; and, excluding the military basic allowance for housing from counting towards SNAP in order to support military families.
First Focus has released this fact sheet comparing the two proposals.
Given the major differences, it remains unclear whether the Farm Bill reauthorization will be completed this year or will be pushed to next Congress.
