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House Ag Committee pushes forward on farm bill

Demonstrating unified leadership, House Ag Committee chair Frank Lucas and ranking member Collin Peterson worked together to push ahead on 100 proposed amendments to the farm bill on Wednesday. A couple of early tests set the tone as members defeated attempts to take the supply management provision out of the dairy plan and to gut the U.S. sugar import quota and price support system.

Five Democrats joined Republicans on the Committee to cut $16.5 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over ten years. The savings come from placing tighter restrictions on eligibility. An attempt to roll the cuts back to match those in the Senate farm bill was defeated.

Chairman Lucas tells POLITICO he hopes to complete markup late Wednesday night or early Thursday.