A fight among House Republicans led to defeat of the Farm Bill when the legislation came up for a vote today (Friday). Democrats had criticized the proposed Farm Bill because it includes new work requirement for food stamp recipients who are in their 50s or the parents of school-aged children, but it was conservative Republicans in the U.S. House who defeated the bill for another reason. They were demanding an immediate vote on an immigration crack-down. Enough of them then voted against the Farm Bill crafted by some of their fellow Republicans that the bill fell 15 votes short of passing. The current Farm Bill expires September 30th.

Senator Chuck Grassley is urging his fellow Republicans in the U.S. HOUSE to go back to the drawing board and fix the Farm Bill they’ve crafted. Senator Grassley says his fellow Republicans in the House now need to come up with “better” Farm Bill.

Grassley says the bill should deny federal farm subsidies to people who are not farmers, but people who’ve merely invested in farmland. Democrat Dave Loebsack of Iowa City was the first member of Iowa’s U.S. House delegation to release a statement about the Farm Bill’s failure.

Loebsack says House Republicans have shown “they care more about being partisan than passing a farm bill to support Iowa’s farmers.” Loebsack, who says the bill didn’t provide enough of a financial safety net for farmers, suggests the debate over federal farm policy “has devolved into a partisan food fight.”

(Radio Iowa)