June 2018, after the House passed its farm bill (H.R.2) with harmful SNAP amendments, the Senate passed its bill (S.3042) with bipartisan support that would mostly maintain SNAP status quo. One of the main differences between the Senate and the House farm bill is work requirements. H.R.2 calls for harsher work requirements, targeting low-income seniors, who now must participate in training or employment programs for 20 hours per week or lose their SNAP eligibility. The Senate farm bill, on the contrary, does not propose additional work requirements. S.3042 attempts to reduce participation barriers by increasing opportunities that would count towards work requirements. Although the House farm bill mainly targets elders, study shows that children in low-income households will also be heavily affected. Nearly 469,000 households with young children will be stripped of their SNAP benefits under H.R.2.. About a third of senior beneficiaries (677,000 households) will also lose their SNAP eligibility.

The House farm bill increases participation barriers, takes food out of the fridge and off the table of struggling American individuals and families.

The current farm bill expired on Sep. 30, 2018.