Congress is on track to pass a five-year farm bill this week that leaves out controversial proposed work requirements for food-stamp recipients, imperiling the support of some conservative House Republicans but opening the door for Democrats in both chambers to support the compromise bill, the Wall Street Journal reported. For months, lawmakers have struggled to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the farm bill, a mammoth piece of legislation that authorizes the food-stamp program for low-income Americans in addition to funding agricultural subsidies, crop insurance, research efforts and more. The Republican-authored House version of the bill tightened work requirements for food-stamp recipients; it passed the chamber along party lines. The Senate version omitted those provisions and passed with wide bipartisan support. The compromise bill released yesterday doesn’t include the tighter work requirements, but retains measures from the House version of the legislation aimed at preventing fraud and duplication. The bill will cost $867 billion over 10 years, according to House committee staff.
