House Passes Tax Bill With SNAP Cuts, Billions for Immigration Enforcement, and Climate Rollbacks

While the majority of Americans will see slightly lower taxes, the tax breaks in the bill will disproportionately benefit the wealthiest families. Families in the lowest income brackets will see their resources significantly reduced, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The bill includes $67 billion for commodity farm payments, but Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee pointed to the fact that farms and other sectors of the food chain will also be hit by the SNAP cuts as families’ purchasing power dwindles. They estimate the cuts will lead to a $25 billion drop in farm revenue over 10 years. SNAP is also responsible for close to 250,000 grocery jobs.

“Today marks a grave turning point for our country, one which leaves rural communities and farmers behind and places us on the road toward increased hunger, less prosperity, and fewer opportunities for working families,” said Angie Craig (D-Minnesota), the top Democrat on the committee. Craig said the inclusion of SNAP cuts and some farm bill provisions in the bill will also make it harder to pass a farm bill, leaving other farm programs stuck in limbo.

The bill could also affect farmers and the broader food system by allocating historic resources toward the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants, which is already impacting food and farm workers. It includes $121.5 billion in new funding for hiring and training more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, expanding detention centers, and building the border wall. It will also prevent some immigrants in the country legally, including refugees and asylum seekers, from accessing food aid and healthcare assistance.

Finally, the bill will deal a huge blow to the transition to renewable energy at a time when farmers are increasingly confronting the impacts of climate change. It will eliminate Biden-era tax credits for solar and wind farms and other renewable infrastructure projects unless they come online before the end of 2027, a provision that will stop many projects because they often take years to get permits, raise funds, and construct. (Link to this post.)