House GOP Agriculture Bill Clears Committee

The House Agriculture Committee moved forward with a bill aimed at implementing substantial modifications to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This initiative is intended to help achieve federal budget reductions designed to fund parts of President Trump’s policy platform.

This law mandates that states assume responsibility for part of the expenses related to SNAP benefits, tightens the criteria for qualifying individuals under this program, and seeks to prohibit the federal government from boosting monthly assistance payments moving forward.

It will be sent to the Budget Committee, where they will merge it with bills from other committees to create the comprehensive bill reflecting President Trump's key initiatives.

This legislation mandates that each state should bear responsibility for covering a percentage of the total cost associated with the program’s benefits. The specific amount a state must contribute will depend partly on their payment accuracy—states boasting lower error rates in payments have to cover only 5% of SNAP benefits, whereas those struggling with higher error rates might find themselves obligated to provide up to 25%.

Under this proposal, work requirements for "able-bodied" individuals without dependents would become more stringent as well. The plan suggests raising the upper age limit for these adults to keep working from 54 to 64 years old.

Republicans on the committee aimed to reduce over $230 billion, while GOP legislators across various committees seek to decrease federal expenditures with the intention of offsetting the expenses associated with Trump’s initiatives.

Democrats have voiced opposition to the bill, expressing concerns that it might prompt states to reduce their respective benefits.

Moreover, Democrats contend that the legislation would complicate efforts to enact a bipartisan farm bill through Congress this year.

“Instead of working with Democrats to lower costs from President Trump’s across-the-board tariffs, House Republicans have decided to pull the rug out from under families by cutting the SNAP benefits that 42 million Americans rely on to put food on the table – all to fund a tax cut for billionaires,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement.

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