Washington Report: U.S. House Fails to Pass Farm Bill

The bill called for massive reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

June 21, 2013

WASHINGTON – Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass its version of a five-year Farm Bill by a vote 195 to 234. Most Democrats voted against the bill because it cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, by more than $20 billion, reports The Hill, while Republicans countered that the bill was simply too costly.

During debate, U.S. Rep. Thomas Marino (R-PA) offered an amendment that would have directed the Government Accountability Office to establish a pilot program to collect and make public data that is currently required for reporting under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 by those retailers and stores participating in SNAP. GAO would have then determined if current reporting requirements could be used to determine the specific food items being purchased with benefits through SNAP.

“This pilot program simply would have collected the data that is already required of those retailers and stores currently accepting food stamps,” Marino said. “It is ironic that my opponents argued that because there may be a compliance cost for a program that is completely voluntary for retailers, we should just forgo any meaningful oversight of how these taxpayer dollars are being spent.” 

Although his amendment failed to pass, Marino expressed support for the convenience store industry: “I am encouraged that I can look forward to working with members of the National Association of Convenience Stores — large and small — to find acceptable mechanisms that will provide greater transparency in the SNAP program.” 

Another amendment offered by U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), sought to strike the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), a program that provides loans and grants to certain urban and rural retailers that provide access to healthy foods. The Senate-passed version of the Farm Bill, however, includes HFFI.

The future of the House Farm Bill is questionable. The House could go back to the drawing board and rework the bill, or it’s possible that the House could move ahead into the conference committee process without a bill and try to negotiate terms with the Senate, which has already passed its version of the Farm Bill. 

The Senate Farm Bill contains language that would allow the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promulgate new rules on what a convenience store must stock or not stock to be eligible to accept SNAP. Specifically, it would permit the USDA to consider sales of certain items such as hot foods, alcohol and tobacco, when evaluating a retailer’s SNAP application. This criterion is wholly unrelated to achieving the purpose of the SNAP program. NACS will continue to work to ensure that it does not become law.

The House version did not contain this provision.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available. Questions relating to the Farm Bill can be directed to NACS Government Relations Director Corey Fitze

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