When Donald Trump doesn’t have his nose in something?
Congress CAN get something done….
Lawmakers have reached an agreement on the farm bill, a mammoth package that will fund key farm safety net programs for the next five years without making significant changes to the food stamp program that serves nearly 40 million low-income Americans.
The agreement, signed on Monday by House and Senate members of the conference committee, is the result of months of negotiations to reconcile conflicting versions of the bill.
“We started this journey nearly two years ago,” said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., in a statement. “As promised, this farm bill provides much needed certainty and predictability for all producers — of all crops –across all regions across the country.”
The measure bears a price tag of $867 billion over 10 years and is expected to be brought to a vote this week, though exact timing is uncertain.
The legislation sets federal agricultural and food policy for five years and provides more than $400 billion in farm subsidies, conservation programs and food aid for the poor. It reauthorizes crop insurance and conservation programs, funds trade programs, bioenergy production and organic farming research. It also makes reduces the cost for struggling dairy producers to sign up for support programs and legalizes the cultivation of industrial hemp, an initiative championed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. On Monday evening McConnell Tweeted a video of himself signing the conference report.
“Making it official with my hemp pen!” he wrote.
One thing the bill doesn’t have: tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients, a provision of the House bill that became a major sticking point during negotiations….
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