Congressman Eric Sorensen Supports Farm and Family Relief Act to Protect Family Farmers from Rising Costs

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) joined Ranking Member Angie Craig (MN-02) and fellow Democratic Members of the House Agriculture Committee in the introduction of the Farm and Family Relief Act. The Farm and Family Relief Act is the first and only bill introduced in the second session of the 119th Congress to provide targeted relief to America's family farmers and working people being crushed by inflation and higher costs caused by President Trump's tariffs and Republican cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in H.R. 1 (the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill").

"I've been clear from the start: these tariffs are hurting farm country and working families at the same time," said Congressman Sorensen. "Family farmers are losing markets and paying more to grow their crops, while my neighbors are paying more at the grocery store. The Farm and Family Relief Act is about lowering costs, protecting farmers, and making sure families can afford food again. We should be helping people get ahead, not making it harder for them to get by."

Family Relief:

• Provides a four-year delay in the cost shift of SNAP benefits to states (currently scheduled to begin in October 2027).
• Provides a two-year delay in cost shift of SNAP administrative expenses to states (currently scheduled to begin in October 2026).
• Estimated cost: $28.2 billion.

Farm Relief:

• Provides one-time payments to row crop commodity producers, modeled after the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) payments approved by Congress at the end of 2024, to cover economic losses from the 2025 crop.
• Provides one-time payments to specialty crop producers modeled after the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crop (MASC) program established during the Biden Administration to address economic losses.

According to a new report by Joint Economic Committee Democrats, Trump's inflation cost the average family $1,625 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.

Read the summary of the Farm and Family Relief Act here and one-pager here.