food stamps
Perdue names former House staffer to run USDA nutrition agency
Brandon Lipps, who helped engineer $8.6 billion in food stamp cuts in the 2014 farm law, is the new administrator of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees food stamps, school lunch and other public nutrition programs. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the appointment of Lipps and two senior nutrition officials a day ahead of a trip, scheduled for today, to a summer meal site for school-aged children.
House Budget plan calls for stricter work rules for food stamps
To avoid "extended dependency," the Republican majority on the House Budget Committee would require food stamp recipients to work at least 80 hours a month or spend an equal amount of time in job training or workfare if they are able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). The GOP's budget package, scheduled for a vote today in committee, also would give states the power to run program as they wish.
Is a penny on the dollar the same as $10 billion in farm bill programs?
House Budget chairwoman Diane Black is trying to line up fractious Republicans to support budget cuts of a penny on the dollar for mandatory spending programs over the next 10 years. If Budget Committee members agree, that ratio would trim around $10 billion from programs that would be part of the new farm bill, a smaller amount than the $17 billion cut from crop supports, conservation and food stamps in the 2014 farm law.
Food stamp enrollment to fall steadily in the decade ahead, says CBO
Enrollment in food stamps, the premiere U.S. antihunger program, soared after the 2008-09 recession, prompting conservative lawmakers to say middle-class taxpayers could not afford the program. With the economic recovery, CBO estimates food stamp participation this year will be the lowest since 2010 and will decline annually through 2027.
House panel forgoes big Trump cuts in food stamps, crop insurance
With the big budget battle in another arena, House appropriators proposed steady-as-you go funding for the USDA and FDA in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. President Trump has proposed cutting food stamps by 25 percent and crop insurance by 36 percent.
Food stamps a target as House GOP moves toward budget plan
House Republicans are expected to caucus today to discuss a budget package that reportedly increases military spending while cutting domestic programs. The food stamp program is commonly mentioned as a target in government-wide cuts to domestic spending that could total $150 billion over 10 years.
Outages ‘frequent’ issue for electronic food stamps
At a subcommittee hearing on 21st Century enhancements for the food stamp system, an official from one of the largest electronic payment processors in the world said "large numbers" of recipients "on a fairly frequent basis" suffer network failures when they try to buy food. A USDA spokesman said "outages are rare, and are usually swiftly resolved."
Food-stamp advocate expects House attack on the program
House Republicans voted repeatedly in recent years to slash food-stamp spending through approaches such as converting the program to a block grant for states to run or restricting eligibility. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he expects those ideas will be offered in coming weeks as the Republican-controlled House writes its budget resolution, given President Trump's proposal for a 25-percent cut in the program.
Perdue: We won’t let you go hungry but there are limits
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who runs the federal farm subsidy and public nutrition programs, told a Montana audience that "my goal is to have a safety net for all American citizens, producers but also those who cannot afford (food) ... It is not in the heart of America to want to see anyone go hungry."
Bipartisan criticism of Trump nutrition cuts at House hearing
Two senior Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said President Trump's proposals to cut public feeding programs at home and abroad would increase hunger in the world. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said a high-ranking Republican's defense of the Food for Peace program — targeted for elimination — was "essentially irrefutable" without suggesting the program would be saved.
Trump proposes long-term, 25-percent cut in food stamps, cost-sharing by states
The White House proposed a $193-billion cut in food stamp spending over the next decade, achieved by restricting benefits to able-bodied adults and by having states shoulder 20 percent of the cost of the program. Jim Weill, of the anti-hunger Food Research and Action Center, said the cost-sharing plan "would make the program collapse" during economic hard times when states run short of money.
Signs of funding cuts for public nutrition in Trump budget
Congress would shear $6 billion from food stamps and the Women and Infants (WIC) food program along with eliminating two overseas food-aid programs, according to data leaked to the think tank Third Way. Proposals to cut farm subsidies and federally subsidized crop insurance in fiscal 2018 also are expected in the Trump administration budget to be released on Tuesday.
For low-wage workers, food stamps are a bridge, says think tank
Some of the most common occupations in the United States have low wages, unpredictable hours and few benefits, says a report by the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Most workers who participate in food stamps, formally named the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are in service, administrative support and sales occupations, it says.
Crop insurance will be big target for farm bill reformers
Farm groups will be hard-pressed to avoid cuts in the federally subsidized crop insurance program during work on the 2018 farm bill, said lobbyists from the two largest U.S. farm groups. One of the lobbyists, Mary Kay Thatcher, of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said her analysis of lawmakers' leanings suggested it will be easier to persuade Congress to pass the farm bill than to stop amendments that cut crop insurance.
Maine governor is hopeful Trump agrees on soda, candy and food stamps
The Obama administration gave a cold shoulder to Gov. Paul LePage's proposal to bar Mainers from spending food stamps on soda and candy. LePage "is optimistic the new administration will approve his revived proposal," says The Associated Press, adding that lawmakers in Tennessee and Alabama are pursuing the same idea.
Immigrants refuse food stamps over deportation fears
Nervous that applying for food stamps will hurt their immigration status or put them at risk of deportation, immigrants are dropping food relief services. “Officials at Manna Food Center in Montgomery County, Md., report that about 20 percent of the 561 families they have helped apply for food stamps, or SNAP benefits, in the past few months have asked that their cases be closed,” says NPR.
Food stamp benefit levels may be too low, say anti-hunger groups
Conaway: Work requirements will be salient part of food stamp reform
House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway said his plans for "meaningful reforms" in food stamps, namely limiting access to benefits and stringent work requirements, "may very well make the 2018 farm bill harder" to pass than the 2014 law, enacted 16 months behind schedule. "I am committed 110 percent to getting both [food stamps and farm subsidies] reauthorized on time" in 2018, he said, but held open the possibility of splitting the topics into separate bills for House debate.