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Peterson calls separating Farm Bill from SNAP “a very bad idea”

 

The ranking member of the House Ag Committee says the next Farm Bill should not be separated from the federal nutrition program, or SNAP.

Congressman Collin Peterson participated in a congressional candidate forum Tuesday at FarmFest in southwest Minnesota.

He was asked about separating the Farm Bill from SNAP.

“That is a very bad idea.  If you remember back in 2013, they killed the Farm Bill over this.  It was the first time in history that a Farm Bill had been voted down, and it was because of the effort they made (to separate) SNAP from the Farm Bill.  So if you want to make sure there’s never another Farm Bill, this is the way to do it.”

Peterson says lawmakers will have a tough enough time passing another Farm Bill as it is.

“To put effort into (separating SNAP from the Farm Bill), I just don’t know if people know how this all works.  Now, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that can be reformed in the SNAP program and things that can be reformed in the Farm program.”

Peterson is running for reelection in Minnesota’s seventh congressional district this November.