Great news! We did not have to wait for a Spring thaw for a bipartisan trillion dollar Farm Bill to be passed in the House. It happened finally. The vote was as expected, bipartisan with support more by region than party. Here is a link of how the representatives voted.politics.nytimes/congress/votes/113/house/2/31. You might be surprised at how your representative voted. Once it was known the bill would pass with votes needed, then the no or nay votes came in. These included members who wanted to make statements that no cuts to SNAP were acceptable or subsidies reform did not go far enough. The Farm Bill passed by the House reduces SNAP benefits by $8.5 billion, much different than the original $40 billion passed earlier. This bill includes restored funding for SNAP-ED, a program that had zero visibility with members of Congress three years ago. There is also a small but impactful change for home bound seniors receiving SNAP. This population will be able to use their benefits with nonprofit shopping services. This gives this population access to healthy affordable food. The Academy led the efforts in getting this new program in the final bill. On the research side, there are many opportunities for Academy members. This includes a new Foundation for Food and Agriculture research. The Farm Bill now must be passed by the Senate. We will keep you informed as to the Farm Bill’s progress through the Senate.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:00:19 +0000