Congress has unfinished legislative business to attend to after Election Day, legislation that millions of Illinoisans rely on for farming and food assistance.

Already renewed for one year, the 2018 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30 but has largely kept its main provisions such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in-tack. That program is also at the heart of the divide between Democrats and Republicans in Washington.

An earlier version of the Farm Bill passing in the House Agriculture Committee would have paved way for a $30 billion cut over the course of a few years per an analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. As of the latest data, SNAP provided food assistance to more than 2.8 million Illinoisans in August 2021 according to the state Department of Human Services.

This cut was part of the reason why U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, who sits on the committee, could not support it. The Springfield Democrat and most others in her party were opposed to this version of the bill.

"SNAP is utilized by people that do have jobs, are working every day, struggling to provide for their families," she said on Oct. 7 in her Springfield office. "A $30 billion cut over five years is too much and so that was a bright red line, I think, for a lot of us on the committee."

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Budzinski also told The State Journal-Register she felt the bill played "geographic favorites" benefiting peanut, rice and cotton growers in the South rather than corn and soybean growers in the Midwest. Her congressional district, stretching from the Metro East to Champaign, makes up some of the most productive farmland in the state.

The immediate future for the freshman congresswoman is vying for a second term to represent Illinois Congressional District 13, facing off against Republican challenger Josh Loyd of Virden. But after that, Congress returns to the national’s capital on Nov. 12 with goals to pass a five-year farm bill and not another extension.

SNAP and other key programs have funding guaranteed through the end of 2024, but once a new crop year begins in January, they would revert to “permanent law,” sending crop supports back to policy from the 1938 and 1949 farm bills reports States Newsroom.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.