Senate Passes Long-Stalled Farm Bill

The Senate on Tuesday passed the long-awaited farm bill, ending two years of partisan rancor and stalled negotiations and clearing what is expected to be the last hurdle for the nearly $1 trillion spending measure.

The bill was passed with strong bipartisan support, 68 to 32. The legislation now heads to the desk of President Obama, who is expected to sign it.

“Many people said this would never happen in this environment, but Congress has come together to pass a major bipartisan jobs bill,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan and chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “This effort proves that by working across party lines, we can save taxpayer money and create smart policies that lay the foundation for a stronger economy.”

The nearly 1,000-page bill reauthorizes hundreds of programs for agriculture, dairy production, conservation, nutrition and international food aid.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost $956 billion and reduce spending on farm subsidies and nutrition by $16.6 billion over the next 10 years. But lawmakers said the savings would be much higher, around $23 billion, when sequestration cuts to agriculture programs were factored in.

Among the biggest changes in the bill are cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, the expansion of the crop insurance program and the elimination of direct payments to farmers. Direct payments have cost about $5 billion a year, and have been paid to farmers regardless of whether they grew crops.

Spending on the food stamp program will be reduced by about $8 billion over the next decade, and will account for about 1 percent of the total spending in the bill. The reduction in spending will affect about 1.7 million people, who will have their benefits reduced by about $90 a month, according to the budget office.

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