Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue pulls back the curtain on the farm bill

The secretary of agriculture will be in Pennsylvania today to lay out the USDA’s legislative priorities. The farm bill accounts for nearly a half trillion dollars in spending over a five-year period — with most of it going to food assistance. Based on projections, around 80 percent of farm bill spending goes to nutritional programs, with the majority spent on SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It’s what we used to call food stamps. Not surprisingly, SNAP is expected to be the subject of the biggest funding fight. One proposal likely to be introduced is imposing work requirements on beneficiaries.

Correction (1/24/18): Due to an editor error, this post previously misstated the time period during which the farm bill accounts for nearly half a trillion dollars. The text has been corrected.

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