On April 30, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567, also known as the Farm Bill). The Farm Bill authorizes programs and policy measures related to agriculture, nutrition, rural development and other matters. It must be reauthorized by Congress every five years and includes a number of provisions important to cities, towns and villages.
The last Farm Bill expired in Sept. 2023. Some provisions were fully reauthorized through 2031 in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, but other sections have been operating under short-term extensions, with the current extension set to expire on Sept. 30. The timeline for this Farm Bill to become law remains uncertain, however, as the Senate has not yet released its version, and there are likely different policy positions.
Here is a look at some of the key provisions in the House-passed bill that are of interest to local leaders.
Nutrition
The bill reauthorizes nutrition programs through 2031 including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP). The bill also includes a permanent ban on Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) processing fees, makes permanent the SNAP online purchasing pilot, expands dairy incentives through the Heathy Fluid Milk Incentive program and allows for SNAP recipients to purchase hot rotisserie chicken.
The House-passed bill also solidifies key program changes that were enacted through H.R. 1 including $187 billion in cuts to the SNAP program, increased work requirements, eligibility restrictions and a significant shift in costs for the program to states. These changes will likely result in less access to this program for residents in cities, towns and villages.
Conservation
While the Inflation Reduction Act provided $19.5 billion for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs, the tax bill that Congress passed in July 2025 repurposed unspent funds into the overall topline funding for the Conservation Title, as well as eliminated climate change aspects of programs.
The Conservation Title focuses on voluntary, incentive-based and locally led programs that address natural resource concerns such as soil health and erosion, water quality and quantity and wildlife habitat.
The bill expands the Regional Conservation Partnership Program beyond water quality to include flooding and drought mitigation and resilience. The bill also enhances drinking water source protection across nearly all agricultural conservation programs, plus promotes coordination with community water systems in implementing source water protection provisions of current law.
Rural Development
Water
The bill reauthorizes USDA rural development water and environment programs, including:
- Water, Waste Disposal and Wastewater Facility Grants to provide funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal and storm water drainage to households and businesses (authorized at $15 million per year for five years).
- Rural Water and Wastewater Circuit Rider Program to provide technical assistance to rural water systems that are experiencing day-to-day operational, financial or managerial issues (authorized at $25 million per year for five years).
- Emergency and Imminent Community Water Assistance Grant Program to help eligible communities prepare or recover from an emergency that threatens the availability of safe, reliable drinking water (authorized at $50 million per year for five years).
- Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program to support the construction, refurbishment and servicing of well water and wastewater systems, as well as water quality testing in cases of potentially contaminated groundwater and purchase and installation of water treatment equipment where testing confirms contamination (authorized at $20 million per year for five years).
- Solid Waste Management Grants Program to help reduce pollution of water resources by providing technical assistance or training to improve the planning and management of solid waste sites (authorized at $10 million per year for five years).
Broadband
The bill maintains and strengthens broadband grant and loan programs important to rural communities, including the ReConnect, Distance Learning and Telemedicine and Community Connect programs. The House-passed Farm Bill would update the ReConnect grant and loan program to prioritize applicants that leverage funding or in-kind assistance from local institutions — including local governments — and to focus on areas that currently lack affordable broadband service. It would expand the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program to include mental health, behavioral health and maternal health projects as priority service areas. The bill also updates the minimum service speed of funded projects to be 50/20 Mbps, increases the minimum speed of broadband service in areas considered unserved to 25/3 Mbps and prohibits funding of projects in areas where federal or state funding for broadband service was obligated within the last five years.
Preemption
Title XII—Miscellaneous includes a provision (Sec. 12006) that would prohibit state and local governments from imposing standards or conditions on any agricultural products produced in another state and sold in interstate commerce. Standalone legislation, known as the Save Our Bacon Act (H.R. 4673), has been introduced by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA). NLC opposes both the standalone legislation and the Farm Bill provision. Unfortunately, an amendment put forth by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) to strike the section was not ruled in order.
However, another preemption provision included in the original House text of the Farm Bill was successfully removed from the House-passed version. A separate amendment from Rep. Luna passed the House by a vote of 280-142 to strike language that would have prohibited state and local governments from adopting pesticide laws that are more protective than federal rules, including prohibiting supplemental requirements or warnings that are different from federal labels.
Next Steps
There are several policy differences that Senators must work through before the Farm Bill comes up for a vote in that chamber. Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-AR) has expressed support for a bipartisan bill that avoids controversial policy issues.
To stay informed of new developments, please sign up to receive NLC’s Federal Advocacy biweekly newsletters.
Contact Your Senators
While there is much in the Farm Bill that NLC supports, local leaders can weigh in with their Senators to urge the removal of preemption language.
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