Rep. McGovern: New Farm Bill Will Impact the Most Vulnerable Americans
A proposed overhaul of food stamps, the largest federal public assistance program in the country, has created a partisan fight over the Farm Bill in the House Agriculture Committee, traditionally one of the most bipartisan committees in Congress.
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which used to be known as food stamps, makes up around [80 percent](https://www.farmpolicyfacts.org/farm-policy-history/) of mandatory spending in the Farm Bill. It provides around [42 million Americans](https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/pd/29SNAPcurrPP.pdf) with an average of about [$125 a month per person]
(https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/pd/SNAPsummary.pdf) to buy groceries and other necessities, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The House Agriculture Committee voted last week to introduce a new Farm Bill to the House on a strict party-line vote (26 to 20). The new measure, which would replace the old law set to expire in September, is largely uncontroversial, leaving many of the current farmers' subsidies unchanged.
The major point of contention has to do with proposed changes to SNAP that would enact stricter requirements on aid recipients. All able-bodied recipients between the ages of 18 and 59 would be required to enroll in state-run employment or training programs for [20 hours a week](https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/agriculture_and_nutrition_act_of_2018_section_by_section.pdf) in order to receive food aid. Those who aren't enrolled would be ineligible for benefits for 12 months. The bill also allocates $1 billion a year for states to establish those mandatory education and training programs.
These changes to the food aid program offer "beneficiaries a springboard out of poverty to a good paying job, and opportunity for a better way of life," said the committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), in a [statement](https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4277) last week.
House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the proposed plan, and said it was “the precise thing we need to get people from welfare to work.” The Farm Bill requirements are similar to those included in a recent [executive order issued by President Trump](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/us/trump-work-requirements-assistance-programs.html) that would require low-income recipients of federal aid or housing assistance to work or risk losing their benefits.
Democrats on the committee said such requirements would result in millions of the country's most vulnerable citizens kicked out of a program they rely on to survive. Furthermore, the ranking member of the subcommittee on nutrition, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said the bill was drafted without Democrats' input.
“We held 23 hearings on SNAP. Nothing in the Farm Bill reflects those hearings,” McGovern said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar.
“The majority of people who are on SNAP are not expected to work ー they’re kids, they’re seniors, they’re people who are disabled. Of those who can work, the majority work,” said McGovern.
He also said that the new funding for education and training amounts to only about $25 to $30 per person ー far short of what is needed.
The Congressional Budget Office will release its own analysis of the bill and it could reportedly reach the floor for a vote in early [May](https://about.bgov.com/blog/farm-bill-slated-house-floor-action-week-may-7/).
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-jim-mcgovern-d-ma-is-sick-and-tired-of-republicans-beating-up-on-poor-people).
The Biden administration is making changes to federal student loan programs, bringing more than 3.6 million people closer to debt forgiveness under the new rules, providing 40,000 with immediate debt cancellation, and allowing several thousand more with older loans to get some relief. Rob Franek, Editor-In-Chief of the Princeton Review, joined Cheddar News to break down how these changes might impact the lives of student loan borrowers and addresses some of the pushback against doing even more. "This is not a bankruptcy bailout of industries that are supporting the American economy," he said. These are for students right now who would otherwise be hobbled financially if they didn't experience some sort of forgiveness overall."
After a secrecy-shrouded visit to Ukraine's capital, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia is failing in its war aims and “Ukraine is succeeding.”
Emmanuel Macron staves off the far right challenger Marine Le Pen in France, conservative lawmakers find themselves embroiled in varying controversies, and pickleball is hotter than ever in the U.S.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 25, 2022, with Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin visiting Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron is reelected as president of France, Twitter is talking to Elon Musk about his purchase bid, and more.
An increasing number of countries are recognizing "Rights of Nature", a legal movement that says ecosystems and species have basic rights to exist and flourish. Grant Wilson, executive director at Earth Law Center joins Cheddar News to explain what the movement is aiming to achieve.
The saga surrounding Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter has made its way to Washington, DC. A group of 18 House Republicans are calling on the social media platform's board to preserve all records and documents related to the company's response to the offer from the Tesla CEO. Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia, joined Closing Bell to discuss. "This is a long term play, but it's just a shot across the bow by congressional Republicans, who probably will end up taking the House, that they're going to be tough on Big Tech and they're going use Musk's bid for twitter to take it private, so that he can get the platform to be open source and remove its censorship."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill dissolving Walt Disney World’s private government after the entertainment giant criticized a measure that critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Autumn Peltier, an indigenous water activist, joined Cheddar News to talk about the lack of access to clean water among indigenous communities in Canada. “I say the government to hold themselves accountable for the promises that they make because Canada and indigenous people have a long history of broken promises and they still continue to this day to keep breaking promises with the nation's people," she said. "Less talk and more action is very much expected from me."
Robert Bonnie, farm production and conservation undersecretary for the USDA, spoke to Cheddar about climate-smart strategies to help farmers reduce carbon emissions from agriculture. "We share the costs of installing those practices on their lands in ways that will protect the climate and maintain agricultural productivity, and we're also partnering with farmers to draw in private investment in greenhouse gas emissions reductions provided by agriculture and forestry," he said. The hope is to get farmers and ranchers to produce climate-smart commodities to lessen the impact of climate change.
