U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, introduced the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act on Nov. 18. It includes $39 billion in new resources to keep farmers farming, families fed, and rural communities strong.
The Food Security Act it is the first sign of life for the Farm Bill since May’s bipartisan committee passage in the House of H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, sponsored by Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA.
Sen. John Bozeman, R-AR, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the Stabenow bill comes far too late. He said it comes 415 days after the Farm Bill expired.
Chairwoman Stabenow said: “The foundation of every successful Farm Bill is built on holding together the broad, bipartisan Farm Bill coalition. This strong bill invests in all of agriculture, helps families put food on the table, supports rural prosperity, and holds that coalition together.”
The bill builds on the proposal Chairwoman Stabenow released in May by investing new resources and including innovative, new ideas to deliver the assistance farmers needs faster. It provides farmers with the certainty of a 5-year Farm Bill – so they can plan for the future – and the immediate help they need to manage the urgent needs of the present. It doubles down on the commitment to rural communities, ensures that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) keeps up with the realities of American life, and brings historic investments in climate-smart conservation practices into the Farm Bill. These new investments include:
$20 billion to strengthen the farm safety net to support all of agriculture and establish a permanent structure for disaster assistance so emergency relief reaches farmers faster.
$8.5 billion to help families make ends meet, put food on the table, and improve access to nutrition assistance.
$4.3 billion to enhance the quality of life in the rural communities that millions of Americans call home.
A summary of the late-arriving bill is available here.
The last Farm Bill, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on Dec. 20, 2018. The current Congress has about three weeks before it expires to either pass a new Farm Bill or dig up the old one with another extension.
If it cannot make either of those happen by Jan. 1, 2025, Permanent Law will take over as farm policy, just as it was written in the days of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression. That would not be kind to modern nutrition or “food stamp” programs and farm payments.
Farm Bills are set-asides from permanent law, typically updated every five or six years. The Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1938, included a built-in requirement to update it every five years.
The Congressional meltdown over the Farm Bill is blamed on inexperience, thin majorities, and the worst political polarization since the 1960s.
Officially known as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the expired farm bill is the most recent omnibus farm bill. It contained 12 titles in November 2023. Congress enacted a one-year extension to 2024.
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