The United States Senate passed a half-decade, $500 billion farm bill with bipartisan majority on Monday that will face the House later this month, according to USA Today.
The bill passed with a 66-27 vote, and will increase government subsidies for crop insurance for produce such as rice and peanuts while making cuts to the food stamps program, costing about $100 billion annually.
In addition, the bill would get rid of all subsidies that are paid to farmers whether they actively farm or not, ultimately saving about $2.4 billion in funds per year on the farm and nutrition programs, according to USA Today.
"I don't think you can have an economy unless you make things and grow things. This bill is about growing things," Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan told the Washington Post. "That's what we need to do in this country.
"We are very proud of the work we have done on a bipartisan basis and we are anxious to work with the House to get the final product to the president's desk," she said.
Last year, the Senate passed a similar kind of bill, but it never passed the House, something that Stabenow said was a big missed opportunity.
"There's a whole lot of people across our country who were very upset that the leadership in the House of Representatives walked away from rural America," she said. "I expect some tough negotiations."
House speaker John Boehner made clear that he is opposed to the bill as it stood on Monday. One of his greatest concerns is the portion of the bill that would take minimize payments to farmers based on their farm's milk supply, because his preference would be reduce government involvement rather than increase it in areas such as this.
Boehner's spokesman told the Post, the politician "wants a simpler approach with less government intervention that the convoluted current system and the proposal put forth in the committee-passed farm bill."
The House will take up its review next week.
