Rural Issue

House Agriculture Committee divisions over SNAP issues persist

There’s no sign of letup in partisan bickering among House Agriculture Committee members about Republican-proposed farm bill work requirements for SNAP recipients.  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said committee Democrats have done nothing but criticize the farm bill that passed out of that body last week on a party line vote.

“My recollection is not one amendment [was] offered,” said Conaway Wednesday during a National Association of Farm Broadcasting Washington Watch event.

But Ranking Member Collin Peterson had this comeback about why no amendments were put forth.

“You can’t put lipstick on a pig,” said Peterson, about the bill he calls “unfixable.”

The Minnesota Democrat told farm broadcasters Wednesday that when the bill goes to conference, “I will not support the House bill; I will support the Senate,” creating, said Peterson, a conference weighted three to one.  “And we’ll see how that works,” he added.

Responding to a question from Brownfield Ag News, Chairman Conaway said that on the House floor, he’s looking for a majority of green lights on the wall behind the House Speaker indicating more ‘yes’ than ‘no’ votes.

“I don’t care if they’re Republican or Democrat,” Conaway said, “I just care if it’s red or green, and I’ve got to find 218 green votes first.”

AUDIO: Mike Conaway (24 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Collin Peterson (26 min. MP3)