By JIM RUTLEDGE

D.C. Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The full U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote by week’s end on its Agriculture Committee’s draft farm bill, following last week’s narrow 213-211 House approval of its own Ag Committee version, which includes cuts of more than $20 billion over 10 years to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

If approved in a final bill, the House cuts would result in some 400,000 households losing SNAP benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The bill’s controversial provisions could also toughen work requirements for the program’s participants.

The Agricultural and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2) is critical legislation that addresses the economic challenges facing the nation’s farmers and ranchers who have seen their net incomes down by nearly 7 percent this year, the lowest since 2006, according to the USDA.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office did not respond to inquiries from Farm World about the scheduled vote. McConnell did tell reporters last week he wanted a vote before the end of the month.

Last week’s House vote marked the chamber’s second attempt to pass the farm bill after it failed last month due to an immigration skirmish among Republicans.

A legislative battle is also ahead this week as Congress faces a vote on immigration reform, which in recent weeks has drawn international headlines over President Trump’s stance separating immigrant children from their parents after illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States. Trump was forced to reverse his controversial policy on June 20 after an outcry from the public and members of Congress, including fellow Republicans.

The immigration bill, written by House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), was voted down on June 21, and several lawmakers predicted there is little hope of passing any measure this year.

Lawmakers from both the House and Senate say passing the farm bill is critical to farm country. The 2014 farm bill expires on Sept. 30, 2018. Under the House measure – written without support from the Democrats – the bill imposes stricter work requirements on between 5 million-7 million recipients of SNAP while pouring billions of dollars into state education and job training programs.

SNAP helps more than 40 million Americans buy groceries and accounts for more than three-quarters of the farm bill’s price tag.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s farm bill passed out of committee by a 20-1 vote and steers clear of controversial changes to SNAP. Instead, the legislation focuses on making a series of administrative changes aimed in part toward combating fraud.

The House farm bill reauthorizes programs ranging from nutrition assistance and crop subsidies to rural development and agricultural research. Other measurers in the House bill would exempt farm operations structured as limited liability corporations and S corporations from a $125,000 cap on commodity subsidies and a $900,000 adjusted gross income limit to qualify for those payments.

What that means, lawmakers say, is that owners would no longer have to split subsidies based on what portion of the business they control; instead, they would each be subject to those payments and adjusted gross income limits.

The bill also would eliminate the USDA’s major conservation initiative, the Conservation Stewardship Program, cutting nearly $800 million over a decade. The Senate version, however, would maintain the program and expand its resources for other efforts, including the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

After last Thursday’s vote, House Agriculture Committee Chair Michael Conaway (R-Texas) said the “vote was about keeping faith with the men and women of rural America and about the enduring promise of the dignity of a day’s work. It was about providing certainty to farmers and ranchers who have been struggling under the weight of a five-year recession and about providing our neighbors in need with more than just a hand out, but a hand up.”

In voting against the measure, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said, “This bill does nothing to actually strengthen agriculture programs or help farmers caught in the President’s trade war. I hope the bipartisan process in the Senate leads to a better bill that strengthens our farm safety net and anti-hunger programs so this attack on our vulnerable never reaches the President’s desk.”

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said, “I am especially supportive of the reforms made to SNAP, which require able-bodied individuals aged 18-59 to participate in employment training or work a minimum of 20 hours a week. By refocusing reforms on work requirements, those who depend on SNAP, like the elderly and disabled, still have access to the support they need.”

United Way Worldwide Senior Vice President and Counsel for Public Policy Steve Taylor opined, “They’re trying to find ways to cut back on people who have access to SNAP, and frankly they’re trying to do it by putting in new work requirements.

“We want people to be able to work and pull themselves out of even needing services and needing things like food stamps. United Way agrees in the value and dignity of work.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the House farm bill is projected to cost $430 billion over five years and $867 billion over a 10-year scoring window, 2019-28. The Senate farm bill would cost $428 billion from 2019-23, and $867 billion through 2028.