WASHINGTON—Senators of both parties are rejecting removal of food-stamp funding from a multiyear farm bill, setting up a clash with conservative House Republicans who want to pare back federal nutrition programs that have grown steadily in recent years.
The face-off will come to a head as the House and Senate try to negotiate a final five-year agriculture policy plan before the next fiscal year begins in October. Congress has struggled to approve updated farm and nutrition legislation, requiring temporary extensions since last year. Continued differences on food-stamp spending also have clouded the chances for a final bill ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline."Food-stamps funding has been part of the wider farm bill for 40 years and Senate Democrats will continue to insist that it remains part of a comprehensive bill," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the assistant majority leader.
Two GOP senators among the 17 Republicans who support the Senate farm bill—Sens. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) and John Boozman (R., Ark.)—also said that food stamps must be included in the legislation in order to pass the Senate.
Funding for nutrition programs has doubled to about $80 billion a year since 2008 in the face of the weakened economy and now accounts for about 80% of spending in the roughly $950 billion Senate version of the farm bill. Whether and how to curtail that increase is a primary stumbling block to completing the farm bill.
The House wants at least $20 billion in cuts to food stamps over the next decade while the Senate trimmed $4 billion in its bill, creating a significant divide on spending levels.Republican aides said steeper cuts are likely necessary to win conservative support in the House for a final farm bill. House Republicans have endorsed food-stamp reductions of as much as $135 billion over 10 years.
The Senate in June approved a farm bill by a bipartisan majority that funded nutrition programs, known as food stamps, and set in place federal support levels for farmers over the next five years.
The House, meanwhile, stripped out food-stamp funding in its version of the farm bill that passed two weeks ago after conservative Republicans and most Democrats opposed the broader House bill.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) on Friday said Republicans intend to bring a separate food-stamps bill forward for a vote, although he provided no sense of timing or details of what that bill would look like.
"I'm just not sure what the final solution will be, and if I can secure a majority of the House for any particular plan," House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R., Okla.) said during a radio interview with a syndicated farm program this week.
Mr. Lucas tried to get support in the House for a farm bill that included food-stamp funding along with restrictions that recipients take drug tests, not have any felony convictions and, if able, be looking for work. That effort failed, leading to the decision to separate out nutrition funding for a separate debate.
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