Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said she would rather continue delaying the farm bill than make a deal with Republicans, according to a Politico report.
The future of the farm bill has been delayed for months as the parties have competing priorities surrounding the bill. Now, its future seems even dimmer as Stabenow said she will not compromise with Republicans on climate and social safety net programs that the bill provides.
At a White House event Tuesday, Stabenow told a group of nutrition advocates that she does not plan on agreeing to any Republican plans to limit anti-hunger programs in a new farm bill.
“I’m not going to do it. So, if that means we continue the policies of the 2018 Farm Bill, which were pretty good if I do say so myself, then that’s OK,” Stabenow said.
According to people familiar with the issue, Stabenow, who is retiring at the end of her term, has said in private that her lasting reputation as a senator is tied to her record of protecting the climate and anti-hunger initiatives in the farm bill.
Stabenow said she would not compromise on any measure that limits updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the country’s leading anti-hunger plan.
“We’re not going to go backwards on feeding people, and we’re not going to go backwards, by the way, on the climate conservation money that we also have there that is so critical,” Stabenow said at the event.
In a revised farm bill, Republicans look to cut climate funding and food aid programs in order to increase commodity payments to farmers of certain crops, a measure that is unpopular with voters. Republicans said that their updates to the Thrifty Food Plan will not affect existing SNAP benefits.
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There is little optimism on the Republican side of the aisle that a farm bill will pass this Congress. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a member of the committee, points to the “restrictive” calendar that lies ahead of the Senate and said there simply isn’t enough time to address the farm bill.
“I don’t see any movement at this point and if we don’t get some movement in committee during the month of March, I don’t see how it’s going to get out,” Grassley said.
