Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., on Tuesday reiterated her stance to Politico that she will not back any additional aid for farmers and ranchers in the next COVID-19 aid plan unless there is an increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“There's not going to be more if we can't help hungry families,” she told Politico. “I've made it very clear that I will object to anything else being done in the agriculture space if we do not get a basic increase in SNAP.”
This is a stance that Stabenow has taken since late July as the Senate plan was being developed.
However, she noted it appears Republicans are “now indicating an openness” and that there are “good discussions going on right now.” Her frustrations are tied to USDA so far not doling out most of the aid in the CARES Act that was passed in March. She said she wants to keep the aid mix around 50-50 for farm aid and nutrition assistance. “I'd like to keep it in that range,” she noted.
Stabenow has been critical of USDA aid efforts, in particular the Market Facilitation Programs run for 2018 and 2019, maintaining that aid was unevenly distributed across the sector and was tilted toward farmers that had not suffered huge trade losses.
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