U.S. House of Representatives Defeats Farm Bill

Statement from Matthew Marsom, Vice President, Public Health Policy & Advocacy

“Today the House of Representatives failed to approve its farm bill (HR 1947) by a vote of 195 to 234.

“PHI applauds members of Congress who voted no on final passage because of the impact this legislation would have on our most vulnerable children and families.

“While we recognize the bipartisan leadership of Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson in their attempts to advance this legislation in a challenging political climate, any short-term savings gained by cutting SNAP benefits and SNAP nutrition education would be far outweighed by the long-term costs to the nation’s health.

“The House farm bill’s $20.5 billion in proposed cuts to our nutrition programs were unacceptable. Nearly 2 million individuals would have lost their SNAP benefits entirely, 210,000 children would have lost free school meals, and 850,000 households would have seen their benefits cut by an average of $90 per month. The bill would have imposed punitive restrictions and participation requirements on SNAP beneficiaries and made deep cuts to nutrition education services.

“The current farm bill legislation is set to expire on October 1 and Congress must act to extend current law or enact new farm bill legislation.  In any future farm bill action, PHI urges Congress to find a bipartisan approach that will protect low-income children and families across the country who rely on SNAP and SNAP-Ed to keep healthy foods on the table.”