What Happened?

If you live in a rural town that leans on federal help for things like telehealth or an emergency water fix, the extension keeping those programs on the books ran out Sept. 30. Rural development programs from the 2018 farm bill had been running on their third straight one-year extension, which Congress passed in a spending law signed Nov. 12, 2025, according to a Legis1 review of the programs. ​

The 2018 law originally covered many of these programs only through 2023. A stopgap spending law now keeps the Agriculture Department funded through Friday, Dec. 11, but it doesn’t renew the rest of the old farm bill, the law firm Holland & Knight noted this month.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

Even with the extensions, many of these programs got far less than Congress allowed. The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program, which helps rural schools and clinics reach faraway teachers and doctors, got $41 million in 2026, half of its $82 million yearly limit, a Congressional Research Service report found. Emergency water grants for towns whose supply fails got $7 million, about 14% of their $50 million limit.

Both new farm bills would steer more of this help toward rural health care:

  • House bill: The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, which passed the House 224 to 200 on April 30, would favor behavioral, maternal and mental health projects.
  • Senate bill: The Agricultural Act of 2026 would favor substance use disorder, mental health and behavioral health projects.

The bills also split on a new grant for small meat processing plants. The House would authorize $3 million a year through 2031, and the Senate $25 million a year. The research office says the grants could bring plants to more remote places but may overlap with existing programs, including $4 billion Congress gave the department in 2021 for food supply chain projects.

Both Sides, Now

The main sticking point isn’t rural programs, though. It’s food aid. The Senate bill would make some states pay part of the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, if they make too many payment errors.

Committee chair Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) offered a one-year delay, and the Senate Agriculture Committee approved the bill 12 to 11 on Sept. 16, with every Democrat voting no, ABC News 4 reported. Democrats opposed the cost-sharing requirement and are pushing for a two-year delay instead, and Holland & Knight calls the issue a major obstacle to a final deal.

What Happens Next?

The Senate bill has been waiting for a full Senate vote since Sept. 24, and the House and Senate would then have to agree on one version for the president to sign. Boozman planned to start talks with the House in October, but serious bargaining is expected after the Tuesday, Nov. 3, election, Holland & Knight said. In the meantime, the Dec. 11 funding deadline gives lawmakers their next chance to pass another extension.

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