WASHINGTON — Opposition by Democrats to huge cuts in the food stamp program helped lead to the defeat of the House farm bill on Thursday, raising questions about financing for the nation’s farm and nutrition programs this year.
The vote, which was 234 to 195 to defeat it, came a year after House leaders refused to bring the five-year, $940 billion measure to the floor because conservative lawmakers who wanted deeper cuts in the food stamp program would not support it.
The failure to pass the bill was a stinging defeat for Representative Frank D. Lucas, Republican of Oklahoma and the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, who had guided the legislation.
“If it doesn’t pass, I don’t know if it’s going to come up again in this Congress,” Mr. Lucas told lawmakers before the vote.
House members who voted for the bill, including Speaker John A. Boehner, had hoped to begin work on a compromise with their Senate counterparts, who passed their version of the bill last month.
The Obama administration had said it could not accept the House bill, saying it cut too deeply into the food stamp program and did not significantly overhaul crop insurance and other farm subsidies.
The House bill would have cut projected spending in farm and nutrition programs by nearly $40 billion over the next 10 years. Just over half, $20.5 billion, would have come from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. The House bill, like the Senate’s version, would have eliminated $5 billion a year in direct payments to farmers, which are made annually whether or not they grow crops.
Billions of dollars saved by eliminating the payments would be directed into a $9 billion crop insurance program. New subsidies would be created for peanut, cotton and rice farmers. Lawmakers left intact the sugar program, keeping price supports and restrictions on imports.
The nearly $75 billion-a-year food stamp program was the focus of most of the farm bill debate. Democrats, led by Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, said the cuts were too deep, and they introduced an amendment that would restore the money by cutting crop insurance. Lawmakers rejected the amendment by 234 to 188.
“The price of a farm bill should not be making more people hungry in America,” Mr. McGovern said.
The vote, which was 234 to 195 to defeat it, came a year after House leaders refused to bring the five-year, $940 billion measure to the floor because conservative lawmakers who wanted deeper cuts in the food stamp program would not support it.
The failure to pass the bill was a stinging defeat for Representative Frank D. Lucas, Republican of Oklahoma and the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, who had guided the legislation.
“If it doesn’t pass, I don’t know if it’s going to come up again in this Congress,” Mr. Lucas told lawmakers before the vote.
House members who voted for the bill, including Speaker John A. Boehner, had hoped to begin work on a compromise with their Senate counterparts, who passed their version of the bill last month.
The Obama administration had said it could not accept the House bill, saying it cut too deeply into the food stamp program and did not significantly overhaul crop insurance and other farm subsidies.
The House bill would have cut projected spending in farm and nutrition programs by nearly $40 billion over the next 10 years. Just over half, $20.5 billion, would have come from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. The House bill, like the Senate’s version, would have eliminated $5 billion a year in direct payments to farmers, which are made annually whether or not they grow crops.
Billions of dollars saved by eliminating the payments would be directed into a $9 billion crop insurance program. New subsidies would be created for peanut, cotton and rice farmers. Lawmakers left intact the sugar program, keeping price supports and restrictions on imports.
The nearly $75 billion-a-year food stamp program was the focus of most of the farm bill debate. Democrats, led by Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, said the cuts were too deep, and they introduced an amendment that would restore the money by cutting crop insurance. Lawmakers rejected the amendment by 234 to 188.
“The price of a farm bill should not be making more people hungry in America,” Mr. McGovern said.