Source: POLITICO'S MORNIG AGRICULTURE, 3/14/18

Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee were outraged last week after learning that Chairman Mike Conaway was eyeing stricter work requirements for some 8 million SNAP recipients. Now, even some influential conservatives are also annoyed that the bill may not go nearly as far as they wanted, especially with Republicans controlling both branches and the White House, report Pro Ag's Helena Bottemiller Evich, Catherine Boudreau and Liz Crampton. 

"I'm concerned the bill might not go in the right direction on work," said Jason Turner, who leads Secretaries Innovation Group, a cohort of conservative state officials who administer SNAP and favor policies that reduce the welfare rolls. 
Turner, who served as commissioner of New York City's Human Resources Administration when Rudy Giuliani was mayor, has become influential on the right. He cautioned that he hasn't been briefed on the specifics of the bill by the committee, but his understanding of what's under consideration has him worried that the bill may actually give more adults with children a break from existing work requirements. 

"It's diametrically opposite from what we would encourage," he said in an interview on Tuesday. 

Negotiations continue: Discussions in the House are proceeding. On Tuesday night, Chairman Conaway told POLITICO that he couldn't talk specifics, but seemed hopeful after meeting with ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., that a bipartisan bill is still possible. "We had a good meeting today," Conaway said, adding: "I think [Peterson] wants to get to a yes. I certainly wants to get to a yes."

Markup could be delayed: Conaway had been planning to mark up the farm bill next week, but the ongoing negotiations over SNAP have made that a difficult target, he said, adding that "it's all fluid right now."