WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, issued the following statement after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released the baseline for the 2023 farm bill.
“The baseline presents a challenge. It shows that the Biden administration’s improper sloppy reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan will continue to dramatically increase SNAP spending during the span of the next farm bill and drives the cost of the legislation to record heights.
The total for all non-nutrition-related programs is approximately $225 billion. The 2021, 2026, and 2031 updates to the Thrifty Food plan alone, will cost more than all the spending outside the nutrition title. This is unsustainable and must be thoroughly debated as Congress considers the next farm bill.
We are looking at the most expensive farm bill ever, and the administration’s lack of good judgement and poor decision-making will make this farm bill a much heavier lift for Congress.”