When House Republicans made the decision to buck the last 40 years of policy by removing funding for food stamps from their new version of the farm bill, a bill that passed with no Democrat votes and doesn't have a prayer of passing the Senate, they were ultimately setting up a fight over food assistance as a whole, according to the Associated Press.
Since the 1970's funding for food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the farm bill have been packaged together as a way of earning urban Democratic support for the farm bill and rural Republican support for SNAP.
As the expense of the SNAP program has ballooned in recent years, more than doubling in the last five years, House Republicans have taken aim at cutting the cost of the program. Republicans have suggested multiple ways of cutting SNAP, which assists 1 in 7 Americans, from simple cuts in funding and stricter eligibility requirements to completely redesigning the entire system, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., is a farmer when not in Washington and he has pushed for the split of the bill for years.
"By splitting the bill, we can give taxpayers an honest look at how Washington spends our money," Stutzman said.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., thinks that the only reason the two bills have been separated is to give Republicans an opportunity to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, SNAP.
"I think there are some Republicans who think this is their moment to end this program as we know it, and the questions is will they succeed or not," McGovern told the Associated Press.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairman of the Agriculture Committee, worked in order to get a bipartisan farm bill that also addressed SNAP passed through the Senate in June. With the House refusing to consider that bill and passing their own version of the farm bill without SNAP Stabenow says the House has created a "very frustrating and frankly confusing situation," according to the Washington Post.
"When you've got 16 million people working on agriculture in this country, it's the biggest jobs bill we'll have in front of us this year," Stabenow told the Washington Post. "So many people who've been uncooperative here actually represent agricultural areas, so I have no idea what they're doing."
Stabenow also told the Post that she does not believe that Democrats will ever support a farm bill that does not include funding for food aid. Stabenow is hopeful that she will be able to get some sort of compromise done with the House bill prior to the September 30 expiration date.
It is not known when a bill focused entirely on SNAP will be introduced in the House. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., told reporters on Thursday that he hoped to begin working on a food stamps bill in the next couple of days. Although Lucas did not elaborate as to what the bill would entail or when it would be introduced for debate, according to the Washington Post.
