Farm Bill Passes Senate

The Senate finally approved the 2007 Farm Bill with a 70-14 vote. The massive piece of legislation covers agricultural subsidies, conservation, as well as nutrition programs like the Food Stamp Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). The new Senate bill expands investments in the Food Stamp Program and TEFAP. It raises household asset limits and indexes them, increases the indexing of the $10 minimum monthly benefit and the standard deductions for households with three or less, and boosts TEFAP commodities purchases. President Bush has threatened a veto, stating the bill is too costly - he also threatened a to veto the version passed by the house in July. Check out frac.org for updates on the 2007 Farm Bill.