Federal Update: Senate Agriculture Committee Fails to Advance Farm Bill Amid SNAP Dispute 

Earlier today, the Senate Agriculture Committee failed to advance Chairman John Boozman’s (R-AR) Farm Bill proposal, leaving Congress without a clear path toward completing the long-overdue reauthorization. With Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) still absent, Republicans needed at least one Democratic vote to move the bill forward. However, the two parties remained divided over whether the proposal would give states and counties sufficient time to prepare for the significant new SNAP/CalFresh costs enacted under H.R. 1. 

H.R. 1 creates two separate SNAP cost shifts. Beginning on October 1, the federal government will cover a smaller share of SNAP administrative expenses, leaving states and local governments responsible for significantly more of the cost. Because California counties administer CalFresh, much of this new administrative burden will fall directly on county eligibility operations. The law also requires states to pay a portion of SNAP benefit costs based on their payment error rates. 

The Farm Bill proposal considered this week would delay the benefit cost shift by one year, but it would not delay the administrative cost shift. The one-year reprieve would also be offset by a permanent increase in the benefit cost share imposed on states with payment error rates above 10 percent beginning in FY 2031. Those states would be required to pay 20 percent of SNAP benefit costs, rather than the 15 percent required under H.R. 1. 

Although the one-year delay represents some movement from the original proposal, CSAC opposed the language as currently drafted because it would not provide sufficient implementation time and could ultimately increase California’s financial exposure. The association sent a letter urging Senators Padilla and Schiff – who sits on the Agriculture Committee – to continue working with lawmakers in both parties to secure a straightforward two-year delay of both the administrative and benefit cost shifts.  

Before the final vote, the committee adopted several bipartisan, noncontroversial amendments. However, those areas of agreement were not enough to overcome the dispute over the SNAP cost shifts. Committee Democrats maintained that a two-year delay was necessary, while Republicans argued that the one-year extension represented their best and final offer.