Housing challenges abound in North Dakota, By Jessica Holdman, August 25, 2013, Bismarck Tribune: “The groups that build, fund and manage housing in North Dakota all face different challenges, but most agree on one thing: There is not enough affordable housing in the state.“There’s still plenty of work to do,” said Max Wetz, director of public affairs for the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency. The agency funds low- and middle-income housing projects statewide through taxpayer donations given in exchange for state income tax breaks. Wetz said a housing needs study conducted by the agency last year “shows a pretty dramatic increase in needs…”
Day: August 27, 2013
Limits on SNAP Food Choices
SNAP judgments: Should junk food be off-limits for food stamp recipients?, By Jane Black, August 26, 2013, Buffalo News:”Last winter, a delegation of high-profile nutritionists made the rounds of Washington lawmakers to discuss ways to improve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka food stamps. One of their proposals: Could SNAP explore limiting the types of food that recipients can buy with their federal benefits? A state or city might ban chips or cookies, or, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed in 2010, soda and other sugary beverages. Such a move could nudge food stamp recipients toward healthier choices, and in any case, the federal government should not be subsidizing junk food. A decent suggestion, worthy of debate, right? Legislators’ response was uniformly supportive, recalls Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University. But there was one catch: “One after another, Democrats and Republicans all said exactly the same thing. ‘You have to get the anti-hunger groups on your side. Until they are willing to support this, it’s not going to happen. Period.’ ”But anti-hunger organizations were most certainly not on board…”