News: GOP plan hits blue wall in Senate

Monday, May 1, 2023

GOP plan hits blue wall in Senate

May 01, 2023

With help from Meredith Lee Hill

QUICK FIX

— House Republican plans to expand work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program hinge on a number of vulnerable Senate Democrats. So far, most of the senators aren’t budging.

— The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency announced another emergency waiver for summertime E15 sales.

— The Senate will hear from commodity and farm groups this week on the farm safety net and economy.

HAPPY MONDAY, MAY 1. Welcome to Morning Ag. I’m your host, Garrett Downs. Send tips to gdowns@politico.com and @_garrettdowns, and follow us at @Morning_Ag.

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Driving the day

VULNERABLE DEMS HOLD THE LINE, MOSTLY: Some vulnerable Democrats up for reelection flatly rejected the House GOP’s plans to expand SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, Meredith reports.

Context: The House-passed Limit, Save, Grow Act would expand the age limit for able-bodied adults without dependents to 55 from 49 in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. It passed largely along party lines last week, in a bid by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to bring President Joe Biden and the Senate to the negotiating table. Those adults are subject to more stringent work requirements than the general SNAP population.

Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are being targeted in their swing states by Republicans aiming to flip the Senate. But each of them said they would oppose the GOP’s plans.

“They just want to deny people help,” Brown said in an interview. “I guess they think it’s good politics, even though it’s not.”

Casey said it is “cruel” and that he plans “to fight like hell to stop it.” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who is up for reelection in 2026, was more blunt.

“That option has no future,” Smith said. House Republicans “are barking up the wrong tree.”

Some Democrats have been more muted, including Jon Tester (Mont.), who said: “We have work requirements,” but also that he has to “look at the [GOP] plan.”

Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, said SNAP work requirements “have always been there” and that they’re set to return in July after a pandemic pause.

West Virginia centrist Joe Manchin (D), meanwhile, has signaled he could be open to the plan.

When asked about the GOP plans to expand current work requirements for food aid, he replied that he supports work requirements for people “when they’re capable and able to do it.” More generally, he has encouraged Biden to negotiate with House Republicans to reach a deal to raise the debt limit and avoid a default.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), did not respond to requests for comment. But her primary opponent Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said after voting to oppose the bill that the legislation threatens food assistance access for 17,000 people between the ages of 50 and 55 in Arizona.

Biofuels

EPA OK’S SUMMERTIME E15: The EPA last week issued an emergency fuel waiver for summertime E15 sale, a top priority for midwestern lawmakers, the corn industry and the ethanol industry.

Remember: The Biden administration did so last year, too, in a bid to lower gas prices amid raging inflation caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Midwestern lawmakers and the industry have been pushing the administration to do so again. Higher blends of ethanol are typically not allowed during the summer over concerns about air quality. The administration also recently ruffled feathers in the ethanol lobby after it proposed a transition plan to electric vehicles.

What they’re saying: EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the allowance will “not only help increase fuel supply, but support American farmers, strengthen U.S. energy security, and provide relief to drivers across the country.”

The National Corn Growers Association celebrated the move.

“EPA’s action will help address fuel supply constraints and ensure drivers continue to have access to a lower-cost fuel choice that cuts emissions,” said NCGA President Tom Haag.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) also applauded the move, and vowed to continue “to press for biofuels to play a significant role in a truly all-of-the-above energy strategy and work toward making E15 fuel a permanent fixture at gasoline retailers across the country.”

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said the waiver will support “the creation of good-paying jobs and economic growth, particularly in rural and farm communities.”

FARM BILL BATTLES

FARM ECONOMY HEARINGS: The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold two farm bill hearings focused on the farm economy this week.

On Tuesday: The Commodities, Risk Management and Trade Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the farm safety net. There will be two panels.

The first panel will see the testimony of American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall and National Farmers Union President Rob Larew. The second will include 10 witnesses from across commodity groups.

On Thursday: The same subpanel will hold a hearing on risk management and farm credit. The witness list has not been released for that hearing.

What we’re watching: Before the House Ag Committee last week, commodity groups urged lawmakers to leave funding for crop insurance in place and to raise reference prices in the Price Loss Coverage program, which pays farmers when the effective price of a covered commodity is less than the respective reference price for that commodity.

However, where the money would come from to increase reference prices in that program is a big question — especially with a farm bill that will in all likelihood be flatly funded.

Ask the chair: MA caught up with House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) last week on the farm safety net and crop insurance.

Asked where the money would come from to boost PLC reference prices, Thompson said “You’ve raised all the right questions,” and that the reference prices do need to be raised. “At the end of the day we’ll figure out how we pay for it,” he added.

MA also asked Thompson about a Government Accountability Office report that found Congress could save money on crop insurance and free up money for other priorities. The GAO suggested Congress reduce premium subsidies to high-income participants by creating an income limit and adjust compensation to the insurance companies who offer crop insurance.

“The GAO’s information was a little dated, given the inflation we’ve seen,” Thompson said. “Crop insurance is important … So we’re looking at all aspects of it, it’s protect and then strengthen.”

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Row Crops

— Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) wrote a letter to Senate Ag Committee leadership urging against “measures that would essentially cannibalize Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding in order to pay for the Farm Bill conservation efforts,” The Hill reports.

— Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has no plans to run for the Senate, helping Senate Ag Committee member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) clear the field for her reelection campaign, our Holly Otterbein and Brittany Gibson report.

— Precision agriculture helps farmers, but they need help making it work, GPB via NPR reports.

THAT’S ALL FOR MA! Drop us a line: gdowns@politico.com, meredithlee@politico.com, marciabrown@politico.com, abehsudi@politico.com and ecadei@politico.com.