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CBO details price tag of House farm bill
Story Date: 4/17/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/16/18
The House farm bill unveiled last week would make about $1.5 billion in cuts between fiscal 2019 and 2028 across conservation, rural energy development and crop insurance in order to offset additional spending on other initiatives, according to the score the Congressional Budget Office posted on Friday. Some funding boosts will come to nutrition programs, commodity supports, and a new U.S.-only vaccine bank to combat diseases in livestock.
The CBO confirms much of what the House Agriculture Committee had been saying for weeks: that the bill would essentially be budget neutral. It would add a modest $458 million to the federal deficit over a decade while overall spending in the nutrition title wouldn't be cut. But the rearranging of the deck chairs is already facing opposition.
Here's how the House farm bill would shift funding:
- Conservation programs face biggest cutback: The conservation title would be cut by nearly $800 million over a decade under House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway's farm bill. The committee proposes folding aspects of the Conservation Stewardship Program into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, both of which fund the application of conservation practices on land remaining in production. The phase-out of CSP would save $12.6 billion over a decade, while spending in EQIP would rise to nearly $7.7 billion. In all, funding for working lands programs would be cut by about $5 billion over time.
The farm bill would increase funding for the Agricultural Conservation Easement by $2.2 billion over a decade, and for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program by $1.3 billion. The programs pay farmers to retire their land and fund financial and technical assistance for multi-state/watershed-scale projects, respectively.
- Huge changes to SNAP: Nutrition programs would get slightly more money over a decade ($463 million). CBO provided some details about how much money would be saved through stricter eligibility criteria and work requirements, but it offered little analysis. Reining in how some people are able to automatically qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and cracking down on states' ability to bump up SNAP benefits for participants who qualify for heating and cooling assistance, would each save more than $5 billion over a decade. Stricter work requirements would result in benefits being slashed by $9 billion over a decade, while it would cost $7.6 billion to administer mandatory state education and training programs.
Expect to hear a lot from Republicans defending the bill by noting how it doesn't cut from SNAP. There also will be outrage from those who fight against hunger over how the package does cut SNAP benefits.
- Boost to crop price guarantees: The commodity title would get an additional $193 million, mainly from a more expensive Price Loss Coverage program, which makes payments to major row crop farmers when prices drop below target levels set in the farm bill. The committee proposed allowing those target prices to move upward as the market improves, but would cap them at 115 percent. The individual (instead of county) Agriculture Risk Coverage program appears to be repealed, saving $143 million over a decade.
Freedom Caucus 'skeptical': Conaway has begun the process of trying to get the right flank of the Republican conference on board with his farm bill. The Texas Republican, who needs backing from the conservative Freedom Caucus to pass his bill without Democratic support, told reporters on Friday that he had "good meetings" last week with Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who chairs the caucus, and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), one of its co-founders. A conservative aide characterized the status of the bloc late last week as: "Still reviewing, but skeptical." Pros can brush up on the latest from Pro Ag's Helena Bottemiller Evich and Liz Crampton here.
Ryan highlights training again: House Speaker Paul Ryan appeared to hint at the farm bill's stricter work requirements paired with a ramp up in SNAP Employment & Training spending. During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Ryan said he's "excited" about the GOP's agenda, which will "focus on career and technical education." He added: "We're going to focus on getting people from welfare into jobs. And we can do this when we had a strong growing economy." The speaker's Twitter feed has also been lauding the farm bill in recent days.
Conservative group touts poll backing bill: A majority of voters support the stricter work requirements proposed in the farm bill, according to a new poll from the Foundation for Government Accountability. The group has come out strongly in favor of the SNAP changes in the bill.
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