WASHINGTON – In an unorthodox chain of events, the House of
Representatives yesterday passed an “agriculture-only” Farm Bill that does not
address federal food assistance programs. The scaled-back version of the bill,
which usually contains both agriculture and food assistance provisions, was
only introduced by Republicans on July 10. The original House Farm Bill, which
contained both farm policy and food assistance programs, unexpectedly
failed on the House floor in June.
The House can now move forward to a conference with the
Senate, which passed a bipartisan Farm Bill on June 10. During conference, the
two chambers will attempt to resolve differences in their respective bills. It
remains unclear if and when such a conference will take place. Further
complicating matters is the prospect that the House legislation may not contain
any provisions regarding SNAP and other food assistance programs. House
leadership has indicated that it plans to bring up a separate bill pertaining
to these programs and then merge it with the bill that was passed yesterday,
but it’s unclear if a food assistance-only bill would pass. The Senate, for its
part, will likely insist that any conference committee consider food assistance
provisions in addition to the agriculture provisions, which could make ultimate
passage in the House more difficult.
The Senate Farm Bill contains a provision that NACS opposes,
which allows the Department of Agriculture to limit convenience stores’ ability
to accept food stamps based on the volume of sales of other goods within the
store. These goods include hot food, alcohol and tobacco products. If the
full House ultimately considers a food assistance Farm Bill, it will not contain
this provision. NACS will continue urging lawmakers to strike the
offensive Senate provision if and when the two chambers proceed to a
conference.