Easier access to healthy food for those enrolled in SNAP. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Online purchasing using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits is now available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The expansion represents a major milestone in the history of SNAP and continues to provide greater convenience and access to healthy …
Representatives Discuss Access to SNAP Benefits for Undocumented Immigrants
Do undocumented immigrants have access to SNAP benefits? That was a topic of discussion at the recent House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations hearing on SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Funding for the program is included in the farm bill, and the hearing was part of the committee’s work on the 2023 farm bill. …
Perdue Reiterates Need to Restore Original Intent of SNAP
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue reiterated during a U.S. Senate hearing the need to restore the original intent of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is to be a second chance and not a way of life. Secretary Perdue’s comments come on the heels of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishing in the Federal Register a proposed …
Roberts: Farm Bill Not Expected by Deadline
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts conceded this week a farm bill by the September 30th deadline is not likely. Overseeing the conference committee between the House and Senate, Roberts says it will be tough to see action completed on the farm bill before the November elections. He told Politico, though, he doesn’t want to consider extending the current farm …
USDA Invests in Customer Service, Modernization Projects for SNAP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $5 million of investments in customer service projects to improve and modernize application processing in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The USDA Process and Technology Improvement Grants (PTIG) awarded to the District of Columbia and state and county agencies in Alabama, Kansas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and New York aim to: Make the …
Farm Bill Extension Not Ruled Out
Getting a farm bill done before current law expires at the end of this month may not happen, as congressional leaders have not ruled out an extension. The 2014 farm bill expires on September 30th, and lawmakers have few days this week to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the new farm bill. Politico reports leaders …
Gap Remains in Farm Bill Talks Over SNAP
Senate Ag Committee Leaders said the farm bill compromise offered by House Ag Chair Michael Conaway doesn’t go far enough. Politico says Conaway described it as a “significant compromise.” The disagreement has slowed the efforts to reconcile the House and Senate Farm Bills. Senate Ag Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow says the offer isn’t even close to something that the Senate …
Farm Bill Merging Process Underway
President Donald Trump has called on Congress to pass a farm bill with work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. However, there appears to be no clear path forward for the bill if the requirements are included. The bipartisan Senate version of the bill does not include the requirements, and Senators say a bill with the requirements will not …
Urgency for Farm Bill Passage
‘Urgency, Predictability and Certainty’—the words heard over and over again at the first formal and maybe only public House-Senate farm bill negotiating session, as future talks head into private sessions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it perhaps more poignantly than even the two Ag chairs and ranking members. Urgency for Farm Bill Passage-1 Current law expires at the end …
Farm Bill Conference Committee Meets
The farm bill conference committee’s first public meeting Wednesday came with just ten legislative days to complete and pass a new farm bill. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts chairs the committee, working on now his eighth farm bill as a lawmaker. In his opening statement, Roberts told the committee: “Time is of the essence. Let us work together to …