By the end of 2007 the House and Senate each passed a farm bill. Now both of these bills go to a conference committee to work out the differences. The Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force has mainly focused on the nutrition title of the farm bill because it contains the reauthorization of several key federal nutrition assistance programs, including food stamps and TEFAP (The Emergency Assistance Food Assistance Program). The nutrition titles in the House and Senate versions have both strengths and weaknesses.

Both bills make strong investments in food stamps and TEFAP which is welcome news after many years of erosion to both of these programs due to inflation. The House bill will invest $4.2 billion in new dollars to the nutrition title and the Senate invests $5.3 billion. However, the Senate bill will expire after 5 years, putting these new investments at risk, while the House version makes the new investments permanent.

There are other key differences between the House and Senate bills. For a good side-by-side comparison go to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website.