A Congress known for epic dysfunction has reached a deal on a U.S. farm bill that would cut food stamps by about $800 million per year.
According to the Associated Press, the new bill represents a compromise between a House Republican farm bill and the Senate. Since last year, they've tried to agree on a farm bill that proposed different cuts to benefits.
The new measure will keeps food stamp benefits for most Americans, but the Senate still plans to cut the deal by about $800 million a year, or around 1 percent. The changes to food stamps would trim $8 billion from the program over the next 10 years.
In fact, the deal could trim as much as $90 a month from food stamps for 850,000 recipients. The New York Daily News reported that about 300,000 of those losing aid are New York State residents. Currently, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program feeds 47 million people.
"Today's bipartisan agreement puts us on the verge of enacting a five-year Farm Bill that saves taxpayers billions, eliminates unnecessary subsidies, creates a more effective farm safety-net and helps farmers and businesses create jobs," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
Stabenow said the House Rules Committee are expected to meet and get the conference ready for House floor consideration. All is expected to take place no later than Wednesday, the Roll Call reported.
"We do have an agreement with the four of us [negotiators] and we're in the process of getting signatures right now," Stabenow said. "That process is ongoing, so it's a question of just how long it takes to do that.
The Michigan Democrat said she is optimistic that the bill would be agreed on by both chambers of Congress and it would then go to President Barack Obama for his signature.
"We've got a bill that makes sense, works for farmers and ranchers and consumers and families that need help, and protects our land and water and our wildlife," Stabenow told Reuters.
If passed the new bill will be less than the $39 billion that Republicans had wanted to cut from the program, over the next decade. That Republican plan would cut nearly $4 billion a year from food stamps, a five percent reduction to the nation's main feeding program used by more than one in five Americans
The bill was reportedly needed due to the food stamp program growing out of control and costing the United States nearly $80 billion a year. They said that the program had expanded even as jobless rates had declined.
