More choices for farmers around the country are to come in
the near future.
On May 15th of this week, the House Agricultural
Committee approved the new Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management
(FARRM) by a bipartisan vote of 36-10.
Chairman Frank Lucas from Oklahoma in his opening statement
said, “There are often criticisms about the partisanship of Congress and how
little is accomplished because folks can’t work together. This is not the
case for the House Agriculture Committee. Today, this Committee will mark
up a reform-minded farm bill that was developed with true bipartisanship.”
Some of the benefits of this bill include saving
approximately $40 billion in funds, revising more than 100 agricultural programs,
and some relief measures are to be taken to help the ranchers, farmers, and rural
communities of this country.
One of the programs that will be reformed for the first time
since the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 will be the Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance Program. SNAP helps those who are need of assistance with nutrition
to low income families and provides communities with economic benefits.
FARRM will be more diligent in assuring all households meet
the income tests for SNAP, close loopholes such as increasing household
payments that will benefit the program, and cut out fraud and abuse issues. All
three of these changes will help farmers know their products are being the most
beneficial to their communities.
Where there is integrity and a positive outlook on a bill
such as this one, the rural farmer can feel better about giving their goods to
those who need it most.
No comments:
Post a Comment