McCarthy debt plan barrels toward vote

—House Republicans are planning to put their debt limit bill on the floor this week, which would include expansions to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work requirements. The package also contains clawbacks to biofuel tax credits.

— California lawmakers today will push for a disaster relief package following massive winter storms and flooding that caused damage to farms.

— The House Ag Committee will hold another listening session today, this time in Florida. The committee will also have a pair of subcommittee hearings this week, one on the farm safety net and another on digital assets.

HAPPY MONDAY, APRIL 24. Welcome to Morning Ag. I’m your host, Garrett Downs. Send tips to [email protected], and follow us at @Morning_Ag.

DEBT LIMIT BATTLE: Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt limit bill is expected to see a floor vote this week, where it will test House GOP unity over a plan to expand work requirements on SNAP — a program that helps feed more than 40 million low-income Americans.

Remember: The plan, dubbed the Limit, Save, Grow Act, would expand the age range of so-called able-bodied adults without dependents from 18 to 49 to 18 to 55. It would also eliminate rollovers of work requirement waivers — meaning states could no longer bank unused waivers from the previous year for use in the next year.

The bill would also clawback several biofuel tax credits introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act and a sustainable aviation fuel tax credit would be nixed entirely.

It’s being used as a bargaining chip to get the Democratic White House and Senate to negotiate a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default.

Floor outlook: House and Senate Democrats have decried the proposal as dead on arrival. Still, it’s the first time the GOP-controlled House will vote on cutting federal food assistance — a long-telegraphed move that was expected to come during the farm bill.

McCarthy can only lose four votes. He’s been busy whipping votes for the package behind the scenes, especially frontline members who could be hurt politically by voting for food assistance cuts, according to one GOP lawmaker who was granted anonymity to speak about intraparty negotiations.

“Kevin McCarthy and his team have been working for weeks to figure out whether or not a proposal can get 218 votes,” the lawmaker said. “I have every confidence this bill will have 218 votes.”

Securing Ag Chair G.T. Thompson‘s support came down to the wire when McCarthy unveiled the proposal. But the lawmaker said last Wednesday, “the speaker and the chairman talked today about work requirements, and the chairman is now fully in support of where we’re headed.” Thompson endorsed the proposal last week when it was introduced.

Whose votes we’re watching: Republicans who represent swing districts President Joe Biden won in 2020 are wary of going too far in tightening restrictions, prompting an outcry from some voters, Meredith reported last week.

That includes a tranche of freshmen Republicans from New York, like Marc Molinaro, who was pushed to avoid SNAP cuts at a farm bill listening session in his district.

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CALIFORNIA DISASTER RELIEF: California Democratic Reps. Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta today will lead a letter to House leaders asking for a disaster relief package for farmers hit by winter storms and flooding.

Context: California had a series of massive winter storms this year, which helped provide much needed water to drought stricken farmers. But the cascade of water, estimated to be about 32 trillion gallons, prompted massive floods that ripped through the valleys of the nation’s leading agricultural state.

It’s likely that additional floods will come when California’s record snowpack begins to melt in the coming weeks.

What they want: The group of California lawmakers is asking for “a bipartisan disaster recovery package [to] be swiftly put together to allow the rebuilding and recovery process to begin” in their letter addressed to McCarthy, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger, and Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro.

“It is imperative Congress provide much-needed aid to California’s agricultural community to allow for a full and timely recovery,” the lawmakers wrote.

The group says the regions they represent have submitted over 900 requests for assistance from the Farm Service Agency. Tulare County, they say, suffered $113 million in damages.

HOUSE AG HITS ROAD (AGAIN): The House Ag Committee and Chair Thompson will be in Florida today for a listening session at the University of Florida.

It will be hosted by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), but a number of members will be in attendance including Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) and Darren Soto (D-Fla.).

The group will hear from Florida farmers, ranchers and agribusiness owners to solicit feedback on the farm bill. Florida citrus growers were recently on Capitol Hill to lobby for disaster relief.

Back in D.C.: When the committee returns from Florida on Wednesday, the Risk Management and Credit Subcommittee will hold a hearing dubbed “Producer Perspectives on the 2023 Farm Bill.” This is the subcommittee that will handle the farm safety net and crop insurance in the 2023 farm bill.

On Thursday, the Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on digital assets.

— Six cattle in Texas were found dead with their tongues removed, The New York Times reports.

— A backlog in SNAP benefits in Alaska is worsening food insecurity, The Associated Press reports.

— A return to pandemic levels of hunger could signal economic fragility ahead, Reuters reports.