Ryan would fold food stamps into antipoverty grants
House Budget chairman Paul Ryan “outlined a plan to combat poverty on Thursday that would consolidate a dozen programs into a single ‘Opportunity Grant’ that largely shifts antipoverty efforts from the federal government to the states,” said the New York Times. “The Opportunity Grants resemble block grants to individual states, which would have autonomy to spend on whatever antipoverty programs they desire as long as Washington approves the plan. The federal government currently spends about $800 billion on social welfare programs like food stamps and housing assistance.”
In a 73-page “discussion draft,” Ryan said “this proposal would create a new pilot project in a select number of states. In participating states, the federal government would consolidate a number of means-tested programs into a new Opportunity Grant (OG) program. The largest contributions would come from SNAP, TANF, child-care, and housing-assistance programs, and the funding would be deficit-neutral relative to current law.”
To read Ryan’s speech about the plan at the American Enterprise Institute, click here.