The 2018 Farm Bill has already been a contentious piece of legislation, barely making it out of the House Ag Committee. The committee is touted as a beacon of bi-partisan efforts, but this bill had no support from committee democrats, mainly over the Republican-proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Thursday the Congressional Budget office (CBO)released their analysis of the house version of the bill. The CBO is a non-partisan department that looks at bills by the numbers and offers analysis on the effects policies will have.
The CBO reports the House version of the Farm bill would cut spending on the SNAP entitlements by $9.2 billion. However, the savings are almost all but offset by a $7.7 billion increase in federal administrative costs. This means an adjusted savings of only $1.5 billion when the numbers settle.
The CBO states the incurred savings would be due to the number of people that would become ineligible for assistance through the program. The report shows that administrative costs for the work assistance programs are the biggest costs incurred, and then doesn?t even guarantee that all recipients eligible for job training could receive it by 2021 when the requirements go into effect.
The House is expected to take up the debate on the 2018 Farm Bill in the coming weeks.
