From pennlive.com
After months of debate and negotiation, Congress voted final approval Wednesday to a massive farm bill that will provide more than $400 billion for agriculture subsidies, conservation programs and food aid.
The House voted 369-47 for the legislation, which sets federal agricultural and food policy for five years, after the Senate approved it 87-13 on Tuesday. It is now headed to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
One thing the bill doesn’t include: tighter work requirements for food stamp recipients, a provision of the House bill that was celebrated by President Donald Trump but became a major sticking point during negotiations.
The bill does increase funding for employment and training programs from $90 million to $103 million.
The original House bill failed during its first floor vote when 30 GOP members blocked it over an unrelated immigration issue. It passed a second time around, but without any support from Democrats, who insisted they wouldn’t vote for a bill with the new work requirements included.
“The version we passed in June took bold steps to reforming SNAP and moving in the direction most of us believed was supported by the American people,” Conaway said. “That was not supported broadly by the body across the building, and we made the compromise necessary to get us to this place.”