House Republicans are aiming to vote this month on a bill that would overhaul the nation’s food stamp program, but the legislation is facing pushback from both political ends of the party.
Republicans want to require 20 hours of work or training for many able-bodied participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The GOP hopes to pass the changes in the 2018 Agriculture and Nutrition Act, an $867 billion measure authorizing farm programs and policy, as well as SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps.
Democrats are largely opposed to the bill. So in order to pass it, House Republicans will need the backing of most of the GOP conference.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, had hoped to vote on the bill in April, but the schedule and whip count didn’t allow it.
Now May is the target. Winning enough votes could be difficult, however.
Not only does the bill risk losing more moderate Republicans who are uncomfortable with the food stamp changes, particularly in an election year, it could also lose conservatives who want bigger cuts overall to the bill, which provides billions in agriculture subsidies.
“The real question will come down to some of our more conservative members, or our more urban members,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told the Washington Examiner. “Are they willing to vote for it for the reforms that are in it? Because we are going to lose a lot of Democrats.”
Republicans last month held a special listening session for lawmakers to learn about the bill, but some GOP lawmakers are still unsure about whether they will vote for it.
Among them is Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who represents a South Florida district where SNAP is a critical entitlement.
“That is going to impact a lot of my constituents,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Washington Examiner when asked about the food stamp work requirement. “And so it worries me a bit.”
The farm bill could also face opposition from the conservative flank of the House Republican Conference, whose lawmakers have long sought to reduce the cost of the bill.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a leading member of the House Freedom Caucus, the most conservative GOP faction, said he is reviewing the bill and so far is interested in adding even more reforms to the food stamp program.
“I’m all for the welfare reform aspect of it,” Jordan said. “There are some things I’d like to make a little stronger in there but I think it’s off to a good start.”
Jordan hasn’t reviewed the agriculture policy and costs yet, he said, and remains undecided.
The Freedom Caucus comprises about three dozen members and the GOP leadership will need most of the group to back the bill if few or no Democrats vote for it, as is expected.
Conservative outside groups have already begun pressuring Congress to cut the cost of the bill. More than a dozen groups sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to reform the legislation’s farm subsidy provisions, which cost taxpayers more than $20 billion dollars annually.
The group is urging changes that strengthen means testing and payment limits for subsidies, along with other altercations.
“Respect for farmers doesn’t mean tolerance for wasting taxpayer money on handouts,” the group wrote to lawmakers last week.
The legislation can wait until fall, when the current authorization expires. Conaway has been pushing for consideration since January, but the bill has moved along more slowly, clearing his committee just last month.
A Conaway spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the Texas lawmaker is “actively working with leadership on whipping the vote and aims to bring the bill to the floor as soon as he can in May.”
