The House Agriculture Committee heard testimony on Wednesday from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about a range of issues, mostly concerning how farmers are faring and what policies could help them the most. While the hearing was
Republicans, led by Ag Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, defended their proposal to meet farm bill budgetary needs by reallocating the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) funding to increase the conservation baseline and meet other funding needs; modifying how USDA may make future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan to determine Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; and tightening how USDA may use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funding.
Democrats, led by Ranking Member David Scott, D-GA, voiced their opposition to the first two components of this plan, arguing that the IRA dollars should not be moved out of conservation programs and that no changes should be made to future SNAP benefit calculations. It is unclear for now if a compromise may ultimately be reached on the third component regarding CCC.
Following this hearing, I had the opportunity to meet personally with Chairman Thompson yesterday. He remains committed to advancing a farm bill this spring and is actively working with members in both parties. I made clear that we stand ready to work with him to get the job done this year.
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