800 326 9054The Senate Agriculture Committee lacked enough votes to advance a farm bill Thursday due in part to partisan division over issues related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill was voted down 10-11.
Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., vowed to hold another vote after the Senate returns from a late-summer break in September.
“It’s not going to go away,” Boozman said after the legislation was voted down along party lines. The committee went into a recess after the vote, as opposed to adjournment, underscoring the chairman’s determination to hold another vote.
Democrats were able to block approval on Thursday due to the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who is out because of a health issue. Boozman said the committee looks forward to welcoming McConnell back “soon.”
The farm bill tally reflects McConnell not being present as well as the last-minute absence of Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who was there earlier but not for the final vote.
Even if Tuberville had been there for the final 10-11 vote to make it a tie, the bill would have failed to advance. Proxy votes are allowed for amendments, but they aren’t allowed to carry final votes.
After the vote, Boozman put the markup into a recess, meaning the bill is still pending in committee.
The logjam stems from disagreement between Republicans and Democrats on how long a delay certain states should get before being required to pay a portion of SNAP benefit costs that are based on payment error rates. Boozman is firm in saying no more than a one-year delay is acceptable to GOP leaders, including President Donald Trump. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the panel’s top Democrat, is equally as steadfast in pushing for a two-year postponement.
The proposed farm bill includes a provision to allow year-round, voluntary sales of higher ethanol-fuel blends, known as E15, a top priority for corn farmers. The sweeping bill also would raise farmer bank loan limits and update other ag programs that haven’t been modernized since Congress passed its last five-year five bill in 2018.
“We’re holding hostage our farm community,” Boozman said. “When you take livestock out of it, [agriculture] is one of the poorest industries right now in America, and it’s not just farmers and ranchers. It’s rural America, and so we’re charged to help them, and right now we’re not able to do that because of this.”
Boozman said the issue isn’t “really about SNAP recipients.”
“This is about allowing states to continue making error rates that are unimaginable. They’re off the chart, and there’s no reason that we can’t help them get them get straight in a year,” he said.
Klobuchar said following the markup that she is “committed to continuing to work with Chairman Boozman on this bill to get it done. and there are good things in it for our farmers and ranchers, including year-round E-15, a provision I have long led on. As noted by the chairman, the Agriculture Committee meeting remains open for further discussions on this bill.”
She continued, “Today we also included a package of additional bipartisan amendments that I voted for and have long supported. I also appreciate that the chairman has acknowledged the problem with the SNAP cost shift to states and counties. But amid tariff-related rising grocery prices in states across the country where SNAP has been critical, this is only a one-year fix. It still advantages high error rate states over states with mid-level error rates. A state with an error rate twice that of Minnesota will pay nothing in the second year, whereas states that have reduced their error rates will still be disadvantaged over high error rate states. Our members are simply asking for the two-year delay so all states will be on the same footing in working to reduce their error rates.”
At the start of the markup, the committee approved amendments addressing Food for Peace, rotisserie chicken, specialty crops and fertilizer.
This story has been updated with details about the vote and Klobuchar’s atatement.
*Sourced from Agri-Pulse.