Don’t Give Them a Break: Summer Recess Farm Bill Advocacy

Both the Senate and the House have appointed members to the Farm Bill conference committee. House and Senate leadership are determined to pass a Farm Bill before the current bill expires on September 30. This means that although Congressional representatives are back in district for the month of August, informal negotiations have begun.

The conference committee is responsible for crafting a Farm Bill that resolves the differences between the House and Senate versions. This is no easy task given how starkly different the bills are, especially when it comes to SNAP (“food stamps.”) While the House version threatens to take food off the tables of over 2 million low-income individuals nationwide, the Senate bill protects SNAP and doubles the funding available to states to test out employment and training programs that are effective in moving people off SNAP and into good-paying jobs.

Unfortunately, no member from Washington’s delegation is on the conference committee, despite our status as both a top specialty crop producer and the home of the nation’s model for successful SNAP employment and training innovation. But that is no excuse: a conference agreement will still need to pass out of both chambers to get to the President’s desk for signing, and so every member has the power of their vote to influence negotiations. If we want a Farm Bill, then the conference committee must craft a bipartisan bill, one that protects and strengthens SNAP.

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