SONNY PERDUE/USDA: “Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue wants more food-stamp recipients to work for that assistance, an opening salvo in what are expected to be contentious negotiations this year over the next U.S. farm bill.
The nutritional-assistance benefits known as food stamps make up the biggest piece of the legislation that governs myriad aspects of food and farming in America. Congress is due to renew the farm bill in 2018 for five years. The current $900 billion program expires on Sept. 30.
During a tour through Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Mr. Perdue said tightening work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s priorities for the coming bill… Always contentious, this round of farm bill wrangling is expected to be complicated by President Donald Trump’s proposal for steep spending cuts at the USDA. Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress who will write the legislation are currently mired in disagreements over immigration and government spending that could delay progress on the farm bill.
House lawmakers say they still want to introduce a draft of the bill in the first quarter so Congress can pass final legislation by October. The 2014 farm bill took three years for Congress to pass. Farmers and others told Mr. Perdue on Wednesday they hoped the bill would protect funding for crop insurance and agricultural research, while improving the safety net for U.S. dairy farmers struggling with low milk prices and tepid demand.”
-Jesse Newman, “Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue Advocates Food Stamp Restrictions for Farm Bill,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 25, 2018 09:11am