The House on Wednesday passed a $867 billion farm bill without any Republican language that would have expanded work requirements for food stamp recipients.
The bill, which passed the Senate Tuesday by a vote of 87-13, now heads to the president’s desk for signature.
The House approved it overwhelmingly, 369-47, after it was stripped of significant reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that had been included in the House version. The final bill is a bipartisan compromise between the House and Senate, where Democratic opposition to SNAP reforms forced lawmakers to strip out those reforms.
The GOP language would have broadened work requirements for food stamp recipients and directed $1 billion toward job training programs as part of a plan to wean people away from the program.
Democrats were opposed to the reforms and argued the work requirements would force needy people off food stamps and waste money on duplicative job training programs.
Elsewhere, the bill would legalize industrial hemp production, a provision favored by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose state is a producer.
The bill reauthorizes federal crop insurance programs and provides an additional $500 million to aid farmers in finding new foreign markets to export goods. It also provides $300 million to research and combat animal diseases.
Trump is expected to sign the bill. The legislation was passed just as farmers have struggled with exports in the wake of U.S. tariffs as well as other problems plaguing U.S. agriculture programs.
“Kansas farm bankruptcies are up six times since 2015,” said Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., a member of the House Agriculture Committee. “We’ve traveled thousands of miles in the past two years, touching base with farmers and agribusinesses across the state, and we’re proud to report that the final bill strengthens our safety net, prioritizes trade promotion, fully protects crop insurance, improves the dairy program, invests in broadband and rural health, and so much more.”
[Related: Farm bill a mixed bag for supporters of forest thinning to help stop wildfires]
