The House on Thursday passed a farm bill that would cut $7 billion in food stamps, as Democrats urged GOP lawmakers to focus on job creation.
The farm bill would also provide a $2.2 billion boost for farmers and help expand access to child care and college.
The $736 billion farm bill passed by the House passed in a vote of 219-212, with the Senate set to consider the bill after a Friday recess.
Democrats said the bill would boost employment, but would hurt farmers by raising the price of their corn, soybeans and wheat.
Democrats had said they wanted to cut food stamp benefits, which account for about one-third of federal food aid, and were worried about the impact on families.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement the bill should be seen as a job-creating measure that will provide more jobs for the American people and increase the economy.
“The bill will create thousands of new jobs, grow the economy and help ensure that the poor and middle class have the chance to thrive,” Pelosi said.
“This is a historic bill that puts millions of Americans back to work.”
The bill also includes $5 billion in farm tax credits, $300 million in support for states that want to create more rural work and $5.4 billion in federal money for states to expand the use of digital services to reduce food waste.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the farm bill is important because it would “make our country stronger, grow our economy, and give our farmers more money to spend on training and equipment.
It’s a big win for American farmers, who have been hurting from the Obama farm bailouts and who now see the $7billion in food stamp cuts as a major economic boost.”
The president will sign it. “
The bill has the support of the President, Agriculture, and House Democrats.
The president will sign it.
I’m proud to sign it.”
