House defeats a farm bill with big food stamp cuts, By Ron Nixon, June 20, 2013, New York Times: “Opposition by Democrats to huge cuts in the food stamp program helped lead to the defeat of the House farm bill on Thursday, raising questions about financing for the nation’s farm and nutrition programs this year. The vote, which was 234 to 195 to defeat it, came a year after House leaders refused to bring the five-year, $940 billion measure to the floor because conservative lawmakers who wanted deeper cuts in the food stamp program would not support it…”
Tag: Budget cuts
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Cuts are coming for food stamps if farm bill is passed, though unclear how deep, By Mary Clare Jalonick (AP), May 8, 2013, Washington Post: “The government’s food stamp program, which helps feed 1 in every 7 America, was one of the few programs exempted from this year’s automatic spending cuts. But now it is likely to get trimmed. Unresolved is by how much. The Democratic chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee is only willing to take roughly one-half of 1 percent, or about $400 million annually, off the top as the panel prepares to move a massive farm bill through committee next week. Her Republican counterpart in the House, also preparing to consider a farm bill next week, would give the program a makeover and cut it by five times that amount…”
Early Childhood Education – Missouri
Missouri early childhood advocates hope to avoid repeat of cuts last year, By Nancy Cambria, April 20, 2013, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “William Blaylock knows from experience how state budget negotiations currently going on in Jefferson City can affect his work directing a day care. Last year — in what was widely viewed as a bad year for early childhood education — the Missouri Legislature trimmed $14 million in funding for child care and preschool programs, mostly in last-minute deals to balance the budget. Blaylock said the cuts placed his preschool, CoCo’s Kidz of St. Louis, in a lurch. The licensed center lost all of its 17 subsidized slots for infants and toddlers in low-income families…”