Farm bill proposal fails in US Senate ag committee over SNAP error rate issue
Farm bill progress stalled Thursday as the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee failed to move forward its version of the omnibus legislation due to a conflict over when states will shoulder a share of federal nutrition assistance costs.
While the bill included bipartisan language from more than 100 bills, Democrats were unwilling to budge on their demand for a two-year extension to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act policy that requires states to pay for part of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program if they have SNAP payment error rates in excess of 6%.
Chairman John Boozman amended the bill to extend the deadline one year, as a compromise, along with additional funding for an emergency food assistance program.
In his opening remarks, the Republican from Arkansas said the amendments made to the draft are the “best and final offer” to address Democrats’ concerns with SNAP.
“Should this legislation be defeated today, current law will remain in effect, and states who poorly administer SNAP programs will begin to pay for the portion of the benefit cost next year,” Boozman said in his opening remarks.
Republicans were without a majority in the room due to the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has been hospitalized and in rehabilitation since June. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, was also not present during the final vote on the bill, allowing Democrats to win the vote against the bill by one vote.
Farm groups expressed disappointment in another delay to the farm bill, which has not been reauthorized since 2018, especially since the Senate version included a provision for year-round, nationwide E15 sought by ethanol and corn producers.
Other groups celebrated that policies like the Save Our Bacon Act, which would block individual state rules on the growing conditions of agricultural products, were not advanced.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in the seven farm bills that he has worked on, “this is the first one I can recall that we’re not doing on a bipartisan basis.”
Grassley spoke in response to an amendment proposed by Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, to mandate an audit on farming operations that have multiple farm managers or people eligible to receive subsidy payments. He said it was a bill he had worked on with Welch, but since “this has turned out to be a partisan markup, I can’t vote for an amendment that I agree with you on.”
“We can’t have a partisan deal on the floor of the United States Senate, or we don’t get anything done for the family farmers,” Grassley said.
Iowa politicians and farmers expressed disappointment Thursday at the lack of farm bill advancement.
Sen. Joni Ernst, who serves on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, said during the markup that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act policy around error rates “did favor certain states, and it doesn’t allow for some of those states to really make the corrections as necessary.”
Ernst said Boozman’s farm bill draft includes priorities she has pushed “for over a decade.”
“While today’s vote is a setback, I remain committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure states are treated fairly as we strengthen accountability in SNAP, find a long-term fix to the harmful effects of Proposition 12, and build the bipartisan support needed to get a Farm Bill across the finish line and signed into law,” Ernst said in a statement.
Josh Turek, the Democratic candidate running for Ernst’s seat against U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, said Senate Democrats “failed” farmers by “letting perfect be the enemy of the good.”
“To be clear: I would have voted in support of this Farm Bill,” Turek said in a statement Thursday. “This is just another example of a fundamentally broken Washington, and as Iowa’s next U.S. Senator, I’ll work with anyone to pass a damn Farm Bill — and I’ll make it so Congress can’t recess without passing one. Our farmers deserve no less.”
According to Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman, farmers “need a strong farm bill now more than ever.”
“This farm bill is three years overdue, and now time is running out to get the job done,” Lehman said. “Farmers don’t have the option to walk away from their fields and pastures if the job isn’t done. Congress should learn from that lesson and come together with solutions instead of walking away from their work.”
