Republican farm bill negotiators have abandoned the attempt to create additional work requirements for the country’s largest food assistance entitlement program.
Proponents say the measures would have prodded millions of recipients of the near $70 billion annual program to work toward greater economic self-sufficiency. Detractors have mostly held that the work-for-food provisions would have punished many in genuine need of help.
Congress is required to pass a farm bill every five years, although the Sept. 30 deadline to pass the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 has come and gone. With just two weeks left on the calendar before Congress adjourns for the holidays—and before Democrats assume control of the House in January—Republicans officially backtracked on the key sticking point on Nov. 29.
Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, said scrapping the provisions was critical, regardless of whether they were a good idea.
Roberts said that the cost of the final bill will also have to be determined before it can receive floor votes in the House and Senate. Earlier this year the Congressional Budget Office scored a 10-year cost estimate at $867 billion.
After the work requirements were stripped, some House members voiced their displeasure on Twitter.
North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) couched his disappointment with the specter of voting against the near $1 trillion, 11th hour bill.
Rep. Thomas Massie, (R-Ky.), mocked the progressive single-payer health care mantra of “Medicare for All” by asking, “How long until someone runs on the platform of #FoodStampsForAll?”
Both the House and Senate passed respective farm bill versions in July. Negotiators were then tasked with reconciling the two into a final bill that would have to pass House and Senate floor votes and receive the president’s signature to become law. But negotiators have been at odds ever since.
President Trump famously showed his his support for the House version on Aug. 22 via Twitter.
“When the House and Senate meet on the very important Farm Bill – we love our farmers - hopefully they will be able to leave the WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD STAMPS PROVISION that the House approved,” tweeted Trump. “Senate should go to 51 votes!”
ABAWDs are subject to a three-month limit of SNAP benefits within a three year period unless they meet a work requirement of 80 hours per month (20 hours per week). Former President Barack Obama administratively gutted these requirements during his tenure by issuing repeated temporary waivers to states.
Failure to meet those requirements would have resulted in disqualification from food stamps for one month for the first instance, three months for the second, and six months for the third.