Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a new scaled back version of its Farm Bill on Thursday after taking out the food stamp program that over 48 million people in the U.S. use.
The bill passed by a narrow margin of 216 to 208, largely voted upon on party lines. Twelve Republicans voted no on the legislation, while not a single Democrat voted yes.
The bill focuses only on programs related to farming and delay’s at least for the time being, efforts to give an overhaul to the foot-stamp program in the country that traditionally has formed over 80% of the spending that is included in the bill.
Kristi Noem, a Republican representative from South Dakota said the process had not been easy and there is still a long road ahead to get the legislation signed into law. She did not agree with splitting the bill, but knows how important it is to get the bill off to the Senate.
Noem told the press that leaders in the House expect the food stamp part of the legislation would be voted on within the next week or two.
Lawmakers in the House failed last month to pass a farm bill for five years and $500 billion that would have made the biggest cuts to the food stamp program, referred to as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, in a number of decades.
The bill stalled when Republicans pushed for more cuts in the SNAP funding, which upset the Democrats who worried too many Americans would no longer be considered eligible.