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Farm Bill fails in House
Legislation’s food stamp provisions might have affected subsidized school lunch eligibility.
1 Min Read
Zach Gibson/Getty Images News/Getty Images
The U.S. House of Representatives today rejected a $867 billion Farm Bill on a vote of 198 to 213 in which every Democrat and 30 Republicans voted against the measure. The bill, which primarily deals with subsidies to farmers, also has an impact on the federal food stamp program and by extension may also affect school meal eligibility through certain provisions affecting income thresholds at which families approved to receive food stamps may also be automatically enrolled in other assistance programs.
The bill was a non-starter for Democrats, who opposed changes in food stamp eligibility dealing with work requirements for able-bodied recipients. Conservative Republicans opposed the bill because of its cost and also withheld support because they first want assurance of a vote on an immigration bill.
The measure was supported by President Donald Trump.
Even had the bill passed, it was unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form, where a substantially different compromise bill is working its way through the legislative process because of the need to get 60 of the body’s 100 votes, a supermajority the Republicans do not have the numbers to reach without some support from Democrats.
The current Farm Bill expires at the end of September.
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