Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro (NY-19) today announced the 2024 Farm Bill was voted out of the House Committee on Agriculture with bipartisan support and will advance to the House Floor. The Farm Bill sets agricultural, food, and nutrition policy in the United States for five years. The 2024 Farm Bill delivers relief for farmers and working families struggling with rising costs and includes ten bipartisan Molinaro-authored bills.
On food and nutrition policy, the bill increases Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by preserving the program’s cost of living adjustment, increases funding for food banks, and enables families to purchase more fruits and vegetables through food assistance programs. It also includes bipartisan Molinaro-authored bills to help food insecure seniors receive healthy meals and allow working individuals with disabilities aged 17 to 21 receive SNAP benefits.
On agricultural policy, the bill includes bipartisan Molinaro-authored bills to strengthen the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net program, increase funding for support services for farm families with disabilities, and deliver more support to organic farmers. Other bills that Rep. Molinaro wrote and got included in the Farm Bill will strengthen flood prevention efforts in rural communities and support workers at National Pipe & Plastics in Endicott.
Rep. Molinaro said, “This Farm Bill includes ten of my bills representing Upstate New York’s priorities and passed with bipartisan support. It also increases SNAP, provides more money for food banks, and delivers more support for dairy farmers, specialty crop, organic producers, and farm families with disabilities. As working families and farmers face an affordability crisis, this will deliver much-needed relief.”
Rep. Molinaro fought to ensure Upstate New York’s priorities were reflected in the 2024 Farm Bill. Since coming to Congress, he has held 11 town hall meetings, three Farm Bill listening sessions, and met with hundreds of farmers, working families, and nutrition advocates in Upstate New York to hear what they want included in the bill.
A full list of Molinaro’s bipartisan bills in the Farm Bill can be found here:
- Dairy Farm Resiliency Act: This bill will strengthen the Dairy Margin Coverage safety net program by insuring more milk production.
- Delivering for Rural Seniors Act: This bill will allow seniors living in rural areas, seniors with disabilities, and those with mobility or transportation issues to receive home delivery services from food banks participating in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
- ThinkDIFFERENTLY Nutrition and Opportunities Act: Under current law, students with disabilities are allowed to be in secondary school until they’re 21. If a student with disability aged 18 to 21 gets a part time job, their income gets counted for the purposes of SNAP and can result in a reduction of family benefits. This bipartisan bill prevents these working students from losing benefits.
- ThinkDIFFERENTLY Agriculture Accessibility Act: This bill reauthorizes and increases funding for AgrAbility, a USDA program that provides funding for support services and assistive technology farmers/farm families with disabilities.
- Flooding Prevention, Assessment, and Restoration Act: This bill incentivizes the construction of more resilient flood infrastructure and helps rural communities access federal funding for these projects.
- Training and Nutrition Stability Act: This bill exempts income earned from SNAP Education and Training Programs from impacting participants’ SNAP benefits. Currently, participants who earn income under these temporary workforce development programs can inadvertently disqualify themselves from SNAP.
- Organic Dairy Data Collection Act: This bill supports organic dairy farmers in Upstate New York by enhancing data collection at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), allowing the agency and farmers to better understand the costs associated with producing organic milk.
- Food Supply Chain Capacity and Resiliency Act: This bill will lower food costs by providing low-interest loans to businesses investing in food supply chain operations.
- The Freight for Farms Act: This bill ensures the USDA Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program includes freight rail infrastructure, so federal funds can be used to increase farmers access to freight rail, which will decrease costs.
- Leveraging Efficiency Awareness for Pumping Systems (LEAPS) Act: This bill makes efficient pump & irrigation systems more accessible to farmers and will support workers at National Pipe & Plastics in Endicott. Specifically it requires the USDA to update a webpage to offer accessible information on energy efficient pumps, highlighting the benefits of efficient irrigation systems and helping farmers implement these efficient practices.
