WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has given its final approval to a sweeping five-year farm bill that provides food for people in need and subsidies for farmers.
Ending years of political battles, the Senate on Tuesday sent the measure to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it. The Senate passed the bill 68-32.
House Republicans had hoped to trim the bill’s costs, pointing to a booming agriculture sector in recent years and saying the now $80 billion-a-year food stamp program has spiraled out of control.
Here is a breakdown of how the new bill will affect both farmers and the millions of Americans that depend on food subsidies:
WHERE THE MONEY GOES:
Most of the bill’s almost $100 billion-a-year price tag goes to the nation’s food stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. One in seven Americans, or about 47 million people, participates in the program. The legislation cuts food stamps by about $800 million, or 1 percent, by cracking down on states that seek to boost individual food stamp benefits. This will give people small amounts of federal heating assistance. Much of the rest of the money goes to farm subsidies and programs to protect environmentally sensitive lands.
SUBSIDIES MAINTAINED:
Farmers will continue to receive generous federal subsidies that help them stay in business in an unpredictable environment, but through revamped programs. The bill eliminates a fixed $4.5 billion-a-year subsidy called direct payments, which are paid to farmers whether they farm or not. New subsidies would require farmers to incur losses before they could collect from the federal government. The bill also would overhaul dairy and cotton subsidies and transition them into similar insurance-style programs. The legislation would spend about $570 million more a year on crop insurance, which on top of subsidies, protects farmers in the event of major losses.
ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS:
The No. 1 farm bill priority for animal rights groups was to defeat a House provision that would have blocked an upcoming California law requiring all eggs sold in the state to come from hens that live in larger cages. Livestock groups have fought the state law, which will be a major burden for egg producers in other states who use smaller cages and still want to sell eggs to the lucrative California market. The animal rights groups won, and the provision blocking the California law didn’t make it into the final bill. The animal rights groups also won language that will make it a federal crime to attend an animal fighting event or bring a child to one.
CRACKDOWN ON FOOD STAMP FRAUD:
The Agriculture Department has been aggressively tackling food stamp fraud in recent years and the final farm bill will add to that. It would step up efforts to reduce fraud by retailers who sell food stamps, track SNAP trafficking and ensure that people who have died do not receive benefits. The bill also would prohibit lottery winners and convicted murderers and sex offenders from receiving food stamps.
HEMP LAWS RELAXED:
The bill would allow farmers to grow hemp, marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin, in 10 states as research projects. Those states already allow the growing of hemp, though federal drug law has blocked actual cultivation in most. Hemp is often used in rope but has also been used to make clothing, mulch, foods, creams, soaps and lotions.
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