House elections stamp expiration date on GOP “welfare reform in the farm bill”

Minnesota Representative Collin Peterson was expected to become Agriculture chairman in January. Peterson, a fiscally conservative “blue dog” Democrat, told a Minnesota paper last week that he believed Republicans “will come around” on their farm bill goals. The House GOP would require “work-capable” adults ages 18 to 59 to work at least 20 hours a week or spend equivalent time in job training or workfare to qualify for food stamps. “The food stamp stuff, I told them four months ago this was not going to fly,” Peterson said.

“If the House of Representatives wants a five-year farm bill … they better fish or cut bait and give up on that,” Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, told reporters, referring to SNAP work requirements. Otherwise, he said, Congress was likely to pass a stopgap revival of the farm policy law that expired on September 30 and begin work anew in 2019 on a farm bill.

Anti-hunger, small-farm, and environmental groups say the Senate farm bill is the only viable option for passage this year. House Democrats uniformly opposed the GOP’s SNAP proposal this year, so there is little chance it would appear in a farm bill written under their control.

Aides for the “four corners,” the lead negotiators on the farm bill, had no immediate comment on the state of negotiations. The leaders set a goal in October of having legislation ready for a vote when Congress reconvenes on November 13.

“After the elections, the major players will have to make a quick decision about whether they would like the farm bill to be completed during the lame duck session,” said a farm policy expert.