Carbajal-Backed Bill to Expand Farm Aid, Delay Trump-Led SNAP Changes Introduced in the House

Today, U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) joined other Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee in introducing a bill to assist struggling family farmers and safeguard key food benefits for low-income Americans.

The Farm and Family Relief Act is a response to President Trump's crushing tariffs and massive unfunded mandate to the states through a cost-shift in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - which have endangered the financial wellbeing of farmers, increased the cost of groceries, and threatened food access for millions of American children, seniors and veterans. View the Farm and Family Relief Act summary here.

"Trump's erratic policies are impacting our food system from start to finish: His tariffs are bankrupting family farmers while raising costs at the grocery store. His 'Big Ugly Bill' is creating unprecedented chaos within the SNAP food assistance program, leading to reduced food security for millions of households. Enough is enough," said Rep. Carbajal. "The Farm and Family Relief Act offers a clear path forward by providing a lifeline to the farmers and families bearing the brunt of these misguided decisions, and restoring stability to the food system we all rely on."

According to a new reportby Joint Economic Committee Democrats, Trump's inflation cost the average California family $2,355 in the past year. Fruits and vegetable prices are up an average of 5.3 percent, while food eaten away from home has increased 4.1 percent. Hardworking Americans paid $310 more for groceries in 2025 than the year before.

The American Farm Bureau Federation estimated in November that U.S. farmers have accumulated over $50 billion in losses across the last three crop years. The 2025/26 crop year shows the steepest loss at $28 billion, influenced by Trump's tariffs. Farm leaders have described the president's $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program as "not enough."

The National Governors Association recently estimated that annual SNAP expenditures could increase an average of $218 million per stateif payment error rate data collected during the shutdown period is not excluded from cost-shift calculations, and a coalition of state and local stakeholdershas urged Congress to delay the cost shifts.