Latest news with #SenateCommitteeonAgriculture
Eater
22-05-2025
- Business
- Eater
Cutting Food Stamps Isn't Just Cruel, It's Also Bad Economic Policy
Well into the wee hours of Thursday morning, House Republicans were hard at work doing what they do best: making the lives of all but the wealthiest Americans harder. After hours of debate, the Republican-led House narrowly passed the 'Big Beautiful Bill' championed by Donald Trump, which brings hundreds of billions of dollars in funding cuts to essential programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps. These $300 billion in proposed cuts will have devastating consequences for low-income Americans, many of whom are already struggling because everything, from rent to groceries, has gotten exponentially more expensive in recent years. In addition to nearly $300 million in SNAP budget cuts, the legislation would also increase work requirements for those receiving benefits for longer than three months, and shift a portion of the financial responsibility for SNAP to state budgets. According to CNN, that shift could result in some states limiting enrollment in assistance programs, or pulling out of SNAP altogether. Currently, it's estimated that around 11 million people, including 4 million children, would lose access to SNAP benefits. But despite the touted federal government 'savings,' these cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will have a devastating impact on the economy. There is pretty solid consensus among economists and other policy experts that programs like SNAP have obvious — and immediate — economic benefits. When the economy is bad, SNAP dollars are immediately infused back into the system, resulting in $1.50 in GDP growth for every $1 spent. SNAP spending also creates jobs, lowers healthcare costs, improves academic outcomes for children, and generally reduces poverty. Conversely, every time there are cuts to SNAP, the economy suffers: Farmers and grocers lose money, supermarket workers get laid off, and state and local budgets get strapped as local officials try to meet the demand for food assistance. If the cuts that just passed the House become law, projections indicate they could be catastrophic: one estimate suggests 1 million jobs will be lost, and states will see $113 billion in GDP losses. According to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, farmers will see billions in lost revenue, and workers in industries from trucking to supermarkets will lose their jobs. The president of Indiana's Gleaners Food Bank described the impact of the proposed cuts as a 'needless, self-inflicted humanitarian and economic disaster for Indiana and the country.' The SNAP program is the definition of a policy-no-brainer, and yet it remains controversial among conservative politicians because the thought of someone — even a child or elderly person! — obtaining something that they did not pay for is just untenable to the worst people among us. (Corporate welfare is, apparently, totally cool though.) I don't know how we fix that idea, that people in the richest country in the world are 'entitled' or 'greedy' for simply wanting enough food to eat, but you would think that this cruelty might be somewhat mitigated by the Republican party's own economic self-interest — and the interest of their wealthy constituents, but alas. It is clear that for House Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump, a little short-term political boost that doubles as a sucker-punch to poor Americans is worth the long-term economic pinch that will inevitably come as a result of these cuts. This legislation is, thankfully, not yet law. It's headed back to the Senate, and it's unclear which parts of the bill will survive, though Trump and the GOP seem determined to decimate SNAP and Medicaid. What is abundantly clear, though, is that it's time to stop viewing the fight over food stamps as having anything to do with making the economy better. It is, explicitly, a fight over who deserves to eat, and Trump and his cronies have made brutally clear which side they're on. The freshest news from the food world every day
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Devasted farms': Bipartisan Senate letter calls for 'new urgency' to address crippling virus
FIRST ON FOX: GOP Sen. Joni Ernst sent a letter to newly confirmed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calling for cooperation on key measures to address the bird flu epidemic ravaging farms across the country. "We know many pressing concerns await you as you begin your new role. We write to ask that you enhance the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) response to the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in our nation's animal agriculture sector, which we greatly appreciate you announcing as a top priority in your testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry," the letter from Ernst, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, states. "The United States is now entering the fourth year of an outbreak of HPAI that has devastated farms, required the depopulation of more than 136 million birds on commercial poultry operations, and infected a small but growing number of farm workers. A new urgency is required from the USDA to address the evolving situation." The letter promotes ways to address the crisis that have been outlined by egg and turkey farmers, including an aggressive vaccination strategy for hens and turkeys, stockpiling vaccines, and outreach to trading partners to ensure that trade is not negatively impacted. Minnesota Declares State Of Emergency As Diseases Cripple Midwestern Farms The senators also called on the USDA to shift attention to a Biden order in 2024 that requires biosecurity audits on previously infected farms, or farms placed within a buffer zone of a control area, to be eligible for indemnities. Read On The Fox News App "In principle, this change would appear to enhance biosecurity measures and accountability for indemnity, but the rule was rushed," the letter states. "As a result, nearly no auditors have been trained to complete these audits, and the audit itself was posted in draft form. USDA should provide adequate numbers of qualified auditors prior to enforcement of the rule." The letter explains that "current indemnity rates for laying hens and pullets are based on inaccurate data and are artificially low" and offers solutions on how to address that, including an egg industry proposal to revise the calculations relying on data from USDA and land grant institutions that would make the indemnities "fairer." Bird Flu Found In Arizona Dairy Cattle Milk After Being First Detected In Neighboring Nevada "Even with revisions to indemnity formulas proposed by egg farmers, these payments will not come close to making producers whole for their losses. In reviewing indemnity activities, we would also urge you to ensure proper outreach to all farmers," the letter says. The bipartisan letter was signed by Democratic Sens. John Fetterman, Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Raphael Warnock, Mark Warner and Jon Ossoff, and Republicans Sens. Bernie Moreno, Jerry Moran, Roger Marshall, Todd Young, Dave McCormick, Ted Budd, Thom Tillis and Chuck Grassley. "I'm working to protect and preserve the livelihoods of our farmers, the stability of our local economies, and our food supply chain impacted by the spread of HPAI," Ernst told Fox News Digital in a statement. "By partnering with the Trump administration to identify solutions, we can ensure our producers have the tools they need to stop avian flu." American farmers and those in the agricultural business continue to reel over the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which apparently shows no sign of slowing to "disaster" status, FOX Business previously reported. "The real crisis is that we're going through the worst bird flu outbreak that we've had in the last 10 years since 2015, potentially the worst bird flu outbreak that we've ever had in the history of this country," Eggs Unlimited Vice President Brian Moscogiuri said on "Fox & Friends" last week. "We've lost 120 million birds since the beginning of 2022. In the last few months alone, since the middle of October, we've lost 45 million egg-laying hens," he added. "We've lost a significant amount of production, more than 13%. So we're just dealing with supply shortages. And it's just a disaster right now because this virus is in three of the top egg-laying states in the country. It doesn't seem like it's stopping anytime soon." During her confirmation hearing, Rollins said she is "hyper focused" on finding the team to combat bird flu and other diseases. "Secretary Rollins received the letter from Sen. Ernst and her colleagues yesterday," a USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "She will respond in short order and is looking forward to working with Sen. Ernst and her colleagues to tackle this critical issue. The Biden administration failed to sufficiently address the avian flu, and his inflationary economic policies only made the problem worse. The American people deserve affordable eggs, and Secretary Rollins is fully committed to taking aggressive action to combat the avian flu and help lower the price of eggs. She is working with the White House to implement a comprehensive strategy that will be rolled out very soon." Fox News Digital's Kristen Altus contributed to this reportOriginal article source: 'Devasted farms': Bipartisan Senate letter calls for 'new urgency' to address crippling virus
Fox News
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'Devasted farms': Bipartisan Senate letter calls for 'new urgency' to address crippling virus
FIRST ON FOX: GOP Sen. Joni Ernst sent a letter to newly confirmed Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calling for cooperation on key measures to address the bird flu epidemic ravaging farms across the country. "We know many pressing concerns await you as you begin your new role. We write to ask that you enhance the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) response to the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in our nation's animal agriculture sector, which we greatly appreciate you announcing as a top priority in your testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry," the letter from Ernst, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, states. "The United States is now entering the fourth year of an outbreak of HPAI that has devastated farms, required the depopulation of more than 136 million birds on commercial poultry operations, and infected a small but growing number of farm workers. A new urgency is required from the USDA to address the evolving situation." The letter promotes ways to address the crisis that have been outlined by egg and turkey farmers, including an aggressive vaccination strategy for hens and turkeys, stockpiling vaccines, and outreach to trading partners to ensure that trade is not negatively impacted. The senators also called on the USDA to shift attention to a Biden order in 2024 that requires biosecurity audits on previously infected farms, or farms placed within a buffer zone of a control area, to be eligible for indemnities. "In principle, this change would appear to enhance biosecurity measures and accountability for indemnity, but the rule was rushed," the letter states. "As a result, nearly no auditors have been trained to complete these audits, and the audit itself was posted in draft form. USDA should provide adequate numbers of qualified auditors prior to enforcement of the rule." The letter explains that "current indemnity rates for laying hens and pullets are based on inaccurate data and are artificially low" and offers solutions on how to address that, including an egg industry proposal to revise the calculations relying on data from USDA and land grant institutions that would make the indemnities "fairer." "Even with revisions to indemnity formulas proposed by egg farmers, these payments will not come close to making producers whole for their losses. In reviewing indemnity activities, we would also urge you to ensure proper outreach to all farmers," the letter says. The bipartisan letter was signed by Democratic Sens. John Fetterman, Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Raphael Warnock, Mark Warner and Jon Ossoff, and Republicans Sens. Bernie Moreno, Jerry Moran, Roger Marshall, Todd Young, Dave McCormick, Ted Budd, Thom Tillis and Chuck Grassley. "I'm working to protect and preserve the livelihoods of our farmers, the stability of our local economies, and our food supply chain impacted by the spread of HPAI," Ernst told Fox News Digital in a statement. "By partnering with the Trump administration to identify solutions, we can ensure our producers have the tools they need to stop avian flu." American farmers and those in the agricultural business continue to reel over the spread of H5N1 bird flu, which apparently shows no sign of slowing to "disaster" status, FOX Business previously reported. "The real crisis is that we're going through the worst bird flu outbreak that we've had in the last 10 years since 2015, potentially the worst bird flu outbreak that we've ever had in the history of this country," Eggs Unlimited Vice President Brian Moscogiuri said on "Fox & Friends" last week. "We've lost 120 million birds since the beginning of 2022. In the last few months alone, since the middle of October, we've lost 45 million egg-laying hens," he added. "We've lost a significant amount of production, more than 13%. So we're just dealing with supply shortages. And it's just a disaster right now because this virus is in three of the top egg-laying states in the country. It doesn't seem like it's stopping anytime soon." During her confirmation hearing, Rollins said she is "hyper focused" on finding the team to combat bird flu and other diseases. "Secretary Rollins received the letter from Sen. Ernst and her colleagues yesterday," a USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "She will respond in short order and is looking forward to working with Sen. Ernst and her colleagues to tackle this critical issue. The Biden administration failed to sufficiently address the avian flu, and his inflationary economic policies only made the problem worse. The American people deserve affordable eggs, and Secretary Rollins is fully committed to taking aggressive action to combat the avian flu and help lower the price of eggs. She is working with the White House to implement a comprehensive strategy that will be rolled out very soon."
