food stamps
Hunger relief will come in the form of the ‘harvest box’
The government will spend $300 million a month to buy fresh produce, dairy and meat products that will be packaged into a box for food banks and other charities to give to hungry Americans, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Some $3 billion will be spent on purchases of surplus foods for donation in an initiative that resembles the "America's Harvest Box" idea promoted by Perdue for delivering a portion of SNAP benefits.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Online purchasing expands to one-third of SNAP recipients
The USDA added Florida and Idaho to its list of states where SNAP recipients are allowed to purchase groceries online. Ten states, with 34.5 percent of food stamp enrollment, now have government approval of the online option, which could reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Online grocery shopping becoming available to a quarter of SNAP recipients
Acting virtually overnight, the Trump administration added California and Arizona on Wednesday to the list of states where SNAP recipients can purchase groceries online for home delivery, a step that could reduce their exposure to the coronavirus. Five dozen House Democrats urged the administration to make online SNAP purchases available nationwide. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Nutrition assistance expands as pandemic impact deepens
The USDA has issued waivers to 43 states that make it easier for schools to provide food to low-income children who lost access to free or reduced-price meals due to coronarvirus closures, said a spokesman on Wednesday. An anti-hunger group called for more flexible treatment and speedy handling of the burgeoning number of applications for food stamps. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Boost SNAP benefits by 15 percent to weather coronavirus, says think tank
Just as lawmakers temporarily increased food stamp benefits during the Great Recession of 2008-09, Congress should boost benefits to help poor families cope with the economic downturn that is accompanying efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Thursday. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
States are told to expand job training for SNAP recipients
The Trump administration said on Thursday that state agencies operating SNAP must expand their job-training activities for food stamp recipients as a way to help them earn more. The proposal was unveiled on the same day as a federal court hearing on a lawsuit to block a USDA regulation, set to take effect April 1, that ends SNAP benefits for 700,000 adults.
White House renews call for broader work rules for SNAP
The Trump administration proposed a 29 percent cut in food stamps on Monday, to be achieved by requiring more recipients to work at least 20 hours a week and by providing some benefits in the form of a box of food instead of letting people buy food themselves at grocery stores. The White House also asked Congress for stricter rules for access to free meals for low-income children at public schools.
States ask federal court to stop Trump limits on food stamps
A Trump administration regulation that would eliminate food stamps for 688,000 people is being challenged in U.S. district court by 14 states and the District of Columbia. Their lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Washington, asks for the rule to be overturned as unlawful and for an injunction to keep it from taking effect on April 1.
Unrelenting opposition to SNAP cuts
Before leaving Washington for the holidays, more than a dozen House Democrats stood in front of the USDA headquarters on the Mall to register their opposition to Trump administration regulations that would eliminate food stamps for 3.7 million people. Rules Committee chairman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, one of the foremost defenders of SNAP, raised the possibility of a congressional lawsuit against the cuts.
Trump administration issues first of three rules to restrict SNAP access
Nearly a year after President Trump announced “immediate action on welfare reform,” his administration said on Wednesday that it would more stringently apply a 90-day limit on food stamps for able-bodied adults, a step that would disqualify 688,000 recipients from the SNAP program.
SNAP enrollment is lowest in a decade
Food stamp enrollment is forecast for 37.1 million people this fiscal year, the lowest figure since the early days of the Great Recession. The antihunger program could cost $69.2 billion this fiscal year, according to Senate appropriators, down 6 percent from fiscal 2019, which ended on Sept. 30, and far below the nearly $80 billion cost when SNAP participation peaked early this decade.
Colleges resort to ‘food scholarships,’ pantries to help hungry, homeless students
With Congress mired in partisan gridlock and the White House showing little interest, the nation's colleges and universities are scrambling to address the growing crisis of hungry, homeless students, as Bridget Huber reports in FERN's latest story.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Tighter SNAP rules could deny free school meals to nearly a million children
The Trump administration said on Wednesday that up to 982,000 children would lose automatic access to free meals at school under its plan to tighten SNAP eligibility rules. Brandon Lipps, deputy agriculture undersecretary, said the impact would be minimal because most of the children would qualify for a free or reduced-price meal if their parents filed the necessary paperwork.
Congressional Black Caucus opposes tighter SNAP eligibility rules
The Trump administration proposal to tighten eligibility rules for food stamps “will push struggling families and children further into poverty, and we strongly urge USDA to rescind it immediately,” said the 55 members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday.
A decade later, food insecurity rate returns to pre-recession level
Some 11.1 percent of U.S. households are food insecure, meaning they did not have enough food at times during 2018 due to a lack of money or other resources, said the USDA on Wednesday. It was the lowest food insecurity rate since 2007, just before the Great Recession drove food stamp enrollment and costs to record highs.
New Trump administration rule could deny green cards to immigrants using SNAP
The Trump administration announced a rule on Monday that would allow federal officials to deny green cards and visa extensions to legal immigrants who have used certain public assistance programs, including food assistance.
In SNAP proposal, USDA hides effect on school meals, says House chairman
Although a half-million children would lose access to free meals at school under a Trump administration proposal to restrict eligibility for food stamps, the USDA has not published that fact, said the chairman of the House Education Committee on Monday.
Administration says its proposal to tighten SNAP rules would cut 3 million recipients
The Trump administration would oust 1 in every 12 SNAP recipients, a total of 3.1 million people, under a plan released today to restrict access to food stamps through so-called categorical eligibility. “Some states are taking advantage of a loophole” to load SNAP rolls, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Think tank says SNAP time limit would hit California the hardest
One in six of the older Americans targeted by an expansion of SNAP work requirements in the debt ceiling bill negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden lives in California, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Wednesday.