Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorksi, who chairs the House Agriculture subcommittee on nutrition, said she plans a “full-scale review” of the food stamp program. “It is intended to be a thoughtful review,” she said in her first remarks about the undertaking. Walorski, who joined the Agriculture Committee this year, said the program should protect vulnerable populations of Americans while being prudent with taxpayer dollars.
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the Democratic leader on the subcommittee, said the administration should declare opposition to cuts in food stamps. Spending dropped in late 2013 with the expiration of a temporary increase in benefits, and the 2014 farm law called for $8 billion in savings from a program that provides additional food stamps for people with high utility costs. “The strongest possible signal should be sent from the administration that enough is enough,” McGovern said during a House Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the top-ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said, “I remain concerned about attempts to re-open the farm bill, whether by making changes to crop insurance, [food stamps] or any other farm bill program….We do not need to get into that quagmire again.”
Conservative Republicans sought the largest cuts in food stamps in a generation as part of the 2014 farm law. They said the program was unduly expensive and a burden on the middle class. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the cost of food stamps is falling and the program “is not part of the long-term budget problem.” Enrollment in food stamps hit record levels in the wake of the 2008/09 recession. In a report, “SNAP Costs Declining,” the Center on Budget says it can take several years of improved economic performance before food stamp enrollment declines.