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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

  • Farm bill would trim food stamps, shift crop subsidies, By Mary Clare Jalonick (AP), January 29, 2014, Boston Globe: “Farm-state lawmakers are lobbying colleagues member by member, vote by vote as they push for House passage of a massive, five-year bill that would make cuts to food stamps and continue generous subsidies for farmers. There are goodies scattered through the almost 1,000-page bill for members from all regions of the country: a boost in money for crop insurance popular in the Midwest; higher rice and peanut subsidies for Southern farmers; renewal of federal land payments for Western states. There are cuts to the food stamp program — $800 million a year, or around 1 percent — for Republicans who say the program is spending too much money, but they are low enough that some Democrats will support them…”
  • Bill boosts farmers, cuts food stamps, By Jerry Zremski, January 28, 2014, Buffalo News: “A bipartisan Farm Bill that’s soon to be voted on in Congress looks like a boon to farmers of Western New York – at the expense of food stamp recipients in cities like Buffalo. The bill, which House and Senate negotiators completed late Tuesday, provides a new insurance program for growers of ‘specialty crops’ such as the apples from Niagara County’s orchards, while apparently protecting upstate dairy farmers from the worst of the deep cuts in farm support programs. Meanwhile, though, a complex change in the food stamp program could reduce benefits for 300,000 New York households, according to the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo…”