House votes down farm bill!

Our voices were heard! Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted down a version of the Farm Bill that would have cut food stamps by $20 billion over the next ten years. The bill also would have included a whole set of new barriers to food stamp access, from work requirements on many recipients to blanket drug testing of applicants.

You joined us in calling on local U.S. Representatives to protect the food stamp program and it worked. The U.S. Senate had already approved $4 billion in cuts to SNAP/food stamps in its version of the five-year Farm Bill. The House of Representatives had been proposing cuts of $20 billion to food stamps, a critical line of defense against hunger for 1.8 million Pennsylvanians living in poverty. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called these proposed cuts "terrifying."

Yet some members of Congress still think the U.S. is spending too much on the food stamp program, and the House passed amendments to the Farm Bill that would have included a whole set of new barriers to food stamp access, from work requirements on many recipients to blanket drug testing of applicants.

• Most Democrats, like Rep. Mike Doyle, voted against the Farm Bill and these amendments.
• They were joined by 62 Republicans, including Rep. Keith Rothfus, who had voted for these amendments but then turned against the Farm Bill because it did not go far enough to restrict access to food stamps.
• The remaining Republicans, including Rep. Tim Murphy, voted for the Farm Bill and these amendments.

Stay tuned for further action!