Farm bill work hasn’t even started, but the new Senate GOP majority already has SNAP and the related Thrifty Food Plan in its crosshairs.
The farm bill food stamp fight that blocked a Senate deal last year is showing its teeth again, but now with unified GOP government control that could yield the first budget since 2016.
Senior Senate Republican and new budget panel member John Cornyn could play a key role in fashioning spending cuts this year, including for farm bill programs Democrats fought for last year.
“By simply reducing payment errors for SNAP payments, for example, we could save an estimated 100 billion dollars. By implementing a real work requirement for means-tested programs like Congress did back during the Clinton presidency, we could save an incredible amount of money for the American people.”
The House Ag Committee tried last Congress and earlier to tighten SNAP requirements and, in a new farm bill push, to end secretarial discretion to boost benefits. Texas conservative Cornyn touched on that.
“Or we could repeal the controversial 2021 Thrifty Food Plan that would save as much as 300 billion dollars. You know, we’re talking about real money, Mr. President.”
Republicans slammed Ag Secretary Vilsack for upping pandemic SNAP benefits under the plan by some $250 billion without Congressional approval. Democrats claimed he had that authority under the 2018 farm bill.
But the committee-passed House GOP farm bill backed by a handful of Democrats would have allowed only inflationary SNAP increases.
-NAFB
