WASHINGTON — Both of Iowa’s U.S. senators backed a new five-year Farm Bill Thursday, but the sweeping agriculture package was defeated after every Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee voted against advancing the measure.
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa each voted in favor of moving the Farm Bill forward during the August 6 committee meeting.
The measure failed 10-11.
All 10 Republicans who voted supported the legislation, while all 11 Democrats voting opposed it. Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama did not vote, leaving Republicans one vote short of advancing the bill without Democratic support.
The result immediately drew criticism from both Iowa senators.
“Democrats’ obstruction leaves the fate of the Farm Bill in serious jeopardy at a time when farmers need our help,” Grassley said following the defeat.
Grassley, one of the Senate’s longest-serving members, said he has participated in seven Farm Bills dating back to 1992 and could not recall another being handled without bipartisan support.
“This is the first one that I can recall that we are not doing on a bipartisan basis,” Grassley said during the committee proceedings.
Ernst similarly blasted Democrats for preventing the bill from advancing.
“I’m disappointed the Democrats voted against advancing the Farm Bill today, leaving America’s farmers and rural communities waiting even longer for the certainty of a five-year Farm Bill,” Ernst said.
The legislation, developed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Arkansas, contains several provisions strongly supported by Iowa’s congressional delegation and agricultural industry.
Among them is a provision allowing permanent nationwide year-round sales of E15 gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol.
Year-round E15 has been a major priority for Iowa corn growers and the state’s ethanol industry for years.
The proposal also includes restrictions intended to keep American farmland out of the hands of foreign adversaries such as China, provisions supporting farmer mental health programs and changes designed to improve accountability in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP.
Grassley and Ernst have also sought federal action addressing California’s Proposition 12, which imposes animal-housing requirements on pork sold in California even when the animals are raised in Iowa and other states.
NIT has previously reported on Grassley and Ernst-backed efforts to expand mental-health assistance for farmers and rural communities.
The biggest dispute during Thursday’s committee proceedings involved SNAP and rules requiring states with high payment-error rates to begin paying a portion of food-stamp benefits.
Democrats demanded that implementation of the new state cost-sharing requirement be delayed for an additional year.
Republicans had already agreed to postpone the requirement for most states until fiscal year 2029, but Democrats sought a two-year delay rather than one.
Ranking Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota argued that the existing rules treat states differently depending on their SNAP error rates and particularly objected to additional time given to Alaska.
Republicans refused that demand.
Boozman argued that SNAP currently distributes more than $8 billion in benefits each month and said roughly 10 percent of those payments are made in error.
“There’s no excuse for that,” Boozman said.
Ernst acknowledged concerns about differences among the states but said lawmakers should work toward correcting those disparities without abandoning the Farm Bill.
“Our states have to get to a point where they don’t have this huge discrepancy with the error rates,” Ernst said.
She said she has worked with Democrats in an effort to find a solution.
“While today’s vote is a setback, I remain committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure states are treated fairly as we strengthen accountability in SNAP, find a long-term fix to the harmful effects of Proposition 12, and build the bipartisan support needed to get a Farm Bill across the finish line and signed into law,” Ernst said.
The breakdown of Thursday’s vote was:
VOTED TO ADVANCE THE FARM BILL — REPUBLICANS
• John Boozman of Arkansas
• John Hoeven of North Dakota
• Joni Ernst of Iowa
• Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi
• Roger Marshall of Kansas
• Jim Justice of West Virginia
• Chuck Grassley of Iowa
• John Thune of South Dakota
• Deb Fischer of Nebraska
• Jerry Moran of Kansas
VOTED AGAINST ADVANCING THE FARM BILL — DEMOCRATS
• Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
• Michael Bennet of Colorado
• Tina Smith of Minnesota
• Dick Durbin of Illinois
• Cory Booker of New Jersey
• Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico
• Raphael Warnock of Georgia
• Peter Welch of Vermont
• John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
• Adam Schiff of California
• Elissa Slotkin of Michigan
DID NOT VOTE — REPUBLICANS
• Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
• Tommy Tuberville of Alabama
The partisan breakdown was unusual for legislation that historically has depended heavily on cooperation between farm-state lawmakers and senators representing urban states interested in nutrition programs.
The committee had approved a package containing Republican and Democratic amendments before the final bill collapsed over the SNAP disagreement.
Even an Iowa Democrat criticized his own party following the failure.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek said Iowa farmers had already waited years for an overdue Farm Bill and that Senate Democrats failed them by letting perfect be the enemy of the good.
Turek is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson for the Senate seat Ernst is leaving at the end of her current term.
Hinson also supported Farm Bill legislation in the U.S. House and has been a leading advocate for blocking California from imposing Proposition 12 production requirements on Iowa pork producers.
For Iowa farmers, Thursday’s defeat also delays progress on permanent year-round E15.
The Senate proposal would amend federal clean-air law to permit E15 sales throughout the year rather than forcing producers and retailers to rely on temporary federal waivers during summer months.
NIT has repeatedly covered Iowa lawmakers’ push for permanent year-round E15 access, an issue considered particularly important in the nation’s leading corn and ethanol-producing state.
The Farm Bill is not dead.
Boozman recessed rather than adjourned the committee meeting and indicated senators could take up the legislation again after the August recess.
But for now, the bill remains stalled after Iowa’s two Republican senators voted yes and Senate Democrats unanimously voted no.