Senator Schumer Speaks up for Puerto Rico SNAP

On May 22, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor about the importance of Congress passing the Farm Bill, comprehensive legislation that renews U.S. agricultural and nutrition programs.  He was equally critical of a version of the bill that the House Agriculture Committee would pass two days later, saying it “completely misses the mark.”

“The Farm Bill should provide vital anti-hunger assistance for the millions of Americans who rely on programs like [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] SNAP, and should extend SNAP benefits to our friends in Puerto Rico, who have been excluded from this program for decades,” Schumer said.

Noting that the House proposal lacked these provisions he accused House Republicans of “playing games and pushing a one-sided, insufficient partisan bill.”

On May 24, the House Agriculture Committee advanced their version of the Farm Bill. The committee passed the proposed legislation 33-21 with a handful of Democrats voting for the bill. Two aspects of the bill that stand out are the reallocation of funds intended for climate action and cuts in SNAP, the U.S. federal nutrition program. The House version of the bill intends to cut nutrition assistance by $30 billion, and does not include a transition for Puerto Rico from NAP to SNAP.  The Senate proposal, which has not yet been considered by the Senate Agriculture Committee, does include this transition for Puerto Rico.

Senator Schumer has said that the House version of the Farm Bill “will not have a future in the Senate.”

He further elaborated that “[t]he farm bill is one of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress works on, and it has always been bipartisan. But the version from House Republicans—MAGA Republicans—falls terribly short.”

Senate Proposal Seeks to Reinstate Puerto Rico into Federal Nutrition Program

Why are there two bills?

Any bill must pass both the House and Senate to become law. Sometimes, as with the Puerto Rico Status Act, the bill in the House is identical to the companion bill in the Senate. If both houses pass their bills, the bill moves on to the president’s desk for signature and becomes law.

The vast majority of the time, though, the bill in the House is not the same as the one in the Senate. The Farm Bill is an example of this situation. The House, which has a Republican majority, has different priorities from the Senate, which has a Democratic majority. The Farm Bill is traditionally a bipartisan bill which includes funding for an enormous number of programs and is considered every five years. The current Farm Bill was passed in 2018 and should have been replaced with a new Farm Bill in 2023. Congress missed that deadline and was given an extension until September 2024. Many programs, including SNAP, are still running under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Now what happens?

If the Senate passes a bill which is different from the one the House passed, the two bills will usually go to a conference committee, a temporary committee with members from both the House and Senate which is formed specifically to address the disagreements in the bill. These members are typically senior members with experience in the relevant policy area. The conference committee meets to negotiate and find a compromise that both chambers can agree to. This might involve elements from both the House and Senate versions, or entirely new provisions.

When the committee reaches an agreement, they create a report outlining the final version of the bill. This report highlights the changes made and the reasoning behind them. The conference report accompanies the final compromise bill, which goes back to both the House and Senate for a final vote. If a majority in each chamber approves the revised legislation, the bill can be sent to the president.

Photograph courtesy of Gregory Hauenstein.