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The Farm Bill

 

What is Farm Bill? 

The Farm Bill is a package of legislation passed once every five years that affects how food is grown, and how accessible that food is to low-income households. Hundreds of thousands of low-income Coloradans can access more nutritious food thanks to programs authorized in Title IV, or the Nutrition Title, of the Farm Bill. These critical programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our nation’s first line of defense against hunger, which helps low-income Coloradans including veterans, children, older adults, people with disabilities, and low-wage workers, to buy food from local retailers, grocers, and farmers markets. The Nutrition Title also includes programs that provide food and funding to our emergency food assistance network to distribute food to families in need. 

Farm Bill Process  

The Farm Bill was last authorized in 2018, which means Farm Bill is up for reauthorization this Fall. The Farm Bill process is a long one, and involves opportunities for the public and community organizations to weigh in. 

Committee Hearings: The process starts with several committee hearings as well as listening sessions, in both Washington D.C. and across the country, where the House and Senate Agriculture Committee members receive recommendations from stakeholders.

Marker Bills: While the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are in hearings, legislators are simultaneously introducing “marker bills” to share their own priorities for Farm Bill. Marker bills are smaller bills, often around a specific issue, that outline topics and policy proposals that legislators want to see included in a larger piece of legislation. Most Farm Bill marker bills have already been introduced. In the section on our Farm Bill Priorities below, you can see some of the marker bills that we are following.

Budget: The Farm Bill’s budget is determined by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which projects the cost of all existing programs for the next ten years. That “baseline” then forms the spending limit for the new Farm Bill, and cost increases beyond that need to be offset by cuts.   

The bill is drafted and moves through the House and Senate: Once committee hearings have taken place, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees each draft their own version of the bill. Each committee votes on its own version of the bill. The bill is then voted on in each chamber (the House and Senate each hold their own vote on their versions of the bill). A Conference Committee is then formed, where the House and Senate reconcile differences between the two bills and combine them into one.   

Passage of the bill: The finalized Farm Bill is then voted on by the full chambers of the House of Representatives and Senate. If it passes, it is then sent to the White House for the President’s signature.   

Hunger Free Colorado’s Priorities for Farm Bill  

At Hunger Free Colorado, we envision a Farm Bill that systematically targets hunger in the United States by providing adequate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit levels and reducing barriers to SNAP access for persons experiencing food insecurity. 

Specifically, we envision a Farm Bill that:  

  • Ensures adequate benefit levels and reflects the reality of households’ food needs. Current SNAP benefit levels are woefully inadequate, with the minimum benefit amount at just $23 a month. We need to raise benefit levels, raise the minimum benefit, and make it easier for households to claim deductions on their expenses so benefit amounts better reflect the resources households have available to purchase food.  
        • We support the Closing the Meal Gap Act (S.2192 / H.R.4077) which proposes to increase the SNAP minimum benefit amount; calculate benefits using the USDA low-cost food plan, resulting in more benefits; eliminate the current cap on housing expense deductions, so households can claim deductions that more accurately reflect their housing expenses; as well as allow households with an older adult or disabled member to claim a standard medical expense deduction. We hope to see the policy ideas proposed by this marker bill included in the Farm Bill.  
  • Ends time limits on SNAP eligibility for certain working age adults. Currently certain working age adults can only access SNAP for three months in a three-year period unless they meet additional work requirements. There is no evidence that time limits or work requirements increase employment. Rather, they cruelly cut off unemployed and underemployed persons from much needed food resources at their time of greatest need.  
        • We support the Improve Access to Nutrition Act (H.R. 1753), which would eliminate three-month time limits on SNAP eligibility for certain working-age adults who cannot document sufficient hours of work, if included in Farm Bill.  
  • Invests in SNAP Outreach: SNAP Outreach reduces barriers to access by providing information and application support, often through trusted community-based organizations. Currently, states pay 50% for SNAP Outreach programs, and the federal government pays the other 50%. Raising the federal government’s contribution to 75% would allow more trusted community organizations to reach rural and underserved communities.

 

  • Protects SNAP participants from theft. SNAP participants receive their benefits on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which function like debit cards and are also vulnerable to electronic theft. Due to a lack of consumer protections for EBT cards, households whose benefits are stolen through no fault of their own have been left without recourse and without access to much-needed resources. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 offers temporary replacement of benefits stolen through electronic theft until 2024, but a long-term solution is needed to permanently replace stolen benefits and update card technology with input from SNAP participants. 
        • To learn more about our advocacy on electronic theft, click here.  
  • Allows families the freedom to choose the foods they need. Under current SNAP rules, it is not possible to use SNAP dollars to purchase hot prepared foods, such as rotisserie chicken, from grocery stores. We have heard from working parents, caregivers, and persons experiencing homelessness who agree that we need to expand access to hot foods to overcome barriers to food access (like limited time, limited mobility, or lack of a kitchen). We also need to oppose any efforts to restrict household food choice. 
        • We support The Hot Foods Act (S.2258 / H.R.3037) introduced by Senator Bennet which would allow households to purchase hot prepared foods with SNAP dollars. We are thrilled that Colorado is leading the effort to expand choice and hope to see this policy change included in Farm Bill!  
        • We oppose efforts to restrict choice in SNAP, such as the Healthy SNAP Act (S.1485 / H.R.4058) which would prohibit SNAP participants from purchasing certain foods considered unhealthy, like sugars and the SNAP Nutrition Security Act (S.2326 / H.R.4909) which would track SNAP participant purchases. Attacks on choice are an attack on the dignity of low-income Americans as they assume households cannot decide for themselves what foods are best for them.  Moreover, restricting choice would increase program costs and complexity for SNAP retailers.  
  • Improves SNAP access for low-income college students by dropping extra work requirements for college students. SNAP student rules increase barriers to access for students facing insecurity. 
        • We support the  Enhance Access To SNAP (EATS) Act (S.2515 / H.R. 1919) which would remove the extra work requirements that higher education students currently face in accessing SNAP, increasing access to SNAP for low-income students.  
  • Eliminate SNAP policies that disproportionately harm immigrant communities by removing the racially discriminatory policy of denying SNAP access to eligible green card holders and repealing the arbitrary 5-year residency waiting period for documented immigrant adults.
        • We support the LIFT the BAR Act (H.R. 5227) which would remove the 5-year residency waiting period for documented immigrant adults to access SNAP and other public benefits programs, allowing lawfully present immigrants to access the resources they need to live flourishing lives.  

How to get involved 

SNAP is a vital program that ensures almost half a million Colorado households can access adequate nutrition, and make ends meet. Join us in urging Congress to strengthen and protect SNAP in Farm Bill, by emailing your U.S. Representatives and Senators. You can also sign up to be a Hunger Free Colorado advocate to receive updates on our policy initiatives.