On April 26, the Senate voted out of committee its proposed Farm Bill for 2012, titled the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act.  This bill will be debated on the Senate floor in the first or second week of June, and the full Senate will soon after vote on a version of it. We examined the Manager’s Amendment to the Committee Print (and related amendments) plus the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Cost Estimatefor this bill, and have updated the Visualizer to reflect the new data (averaged across 10 or 5 years when available, otherwise the budget for 2013). This update allows users to compare budgets for programs included in the Senate Committee Bill against the 2008 Farm Bill, and to identify which programs are proposed to be cut, expanded, introduced or changed in the Bill.

We hope this timely information will be used as a tool by concerned citizens and groups, including advocates, the media and researchers, to help them both to understand the proposed changes in this complex bill and to respond. The Visualizer will also be updated to reflect the contents of the House Committee Bill when it is released, as well as the full Farm Bill that will be voted on by both chambers of Congress.

Click here for the Farm Bill Budget Visualizer.