As cuts to food stamps take effect, more trims to benefits are expected, By Catherine Rampell, October 31, 2013, New York Times: “Starting Friday, millions of Americans receiving food stamps will be required to get by with less government assistance every month, a move that not only will cost them money they use to feed their families but is expected to slightly dampen economic growth as well. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, popularly referred to as food stamps, reflect the lapse of a temporary increase created by the administration’s stimulus program in 2009…”
Food stamp cuts set to kick in Friday as Congress debates billions in further reductions, By Mary Clare Jalonick (AP), November 1, 2013, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune: “More than 47 million Americans who receive food stamps will see their benefits go down starting Friday, just as Congress has begun negotiations on further cuts to the program. Beginning in November, a temporary benefit from the 2009 economic stimulus that boosts food stamp dollars will no longer be available. According to the Agriculture Department, that means a family of four receiving food stamps will start receiving $36 less a month…”
Automatic cut in federal food stamps kicks in today, By Virginia Young, November 1, 2013, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “People living in poverty could find it harder to pay the grocery bill this month. An across-the-board 5.5 percent cut in food stamps takes effect today. Benefits are being scaled back because of the expiration of a temporary boost passed by Congress in 2009 to help people during the recession…”
How food stamp cuts affect your state, By Jake Grovum, November 1, 2013, Stateline: “The record number of Americans relying on federal aid to put food on the table will have to make do with less starting today, as a recession-era boost to food stamps officially expires. Benefits are being reduced by about 5 percent beginning Nov. 1 for all of the nearly 47.7 million Americans on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…”
Food stamp demand rises in Minnesota as budget shrinks, By Jennifer Brooks, October 28, 2013, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “It’s the Wednesday dinner rush at the Friends in Need food shelf and a little girl stares wide-eyed at tables piled high with fresh fruits and vegetables. ‘Can we have some carrots? I love carrots,’ she asked a volunteer, who smiled and filled a bag for the family to add to their cart, next to donations of canned goods, cereal, milk, apples and baked goods in St. Paul Park. More than 554,000 Minnesotans get federal food assistance — one out of every 10 people in the state. A third are children. Another quarter are elderly or disabled adults. Contrary to popular stereotypes, a majority live in families where at least one adult earns a paycheck…”
Cuts coming to food stamp program with more proposed, but how far should they go?, By Cliff Pinckard, October 29, 2013, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “There are more than 47 million people using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps. It’s a number that has doubled during the past decade, according to UPI. Just over 1.8 million people in Ohio use food stamps, according to 2012 data. The program costs the government $75 billion annually. But cuts are coming. A 13.6 percent boost that was part of the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act will expire on Friday. That will mean a cost reduction of $5 billion in 2014 and about $11 billion through 2016 for the federal government, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. It also will tighten the budgets of food stamp recipients…”
Anxiety among families, providers as stimulus-funded increase in food stamps is set to expire, By Rik Stevens (AP), October 10, 2013, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “A temporary increase in food stamps expires Oct. 31, meaning for millions of Americans, the benefits that help put food on the table won’t stretch as far as they have for the past four years. Food stamps — actually the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — go to 47 million Americans a month, almost half of them children and teenagers…”
Food stamp funding dwindles as demand swells, By Anita Wadhwani, October 10, 2013, The Tennessean: “Just west of downtown Nashville, a few blocks to the north of a gourmet marshmallow store, craft distillery, coffee shop and art galleries in Marathon Village, a long line of mostly women and young kids waited on a hot afternoon to fill up cardboard boxes with fresh greens, fruits and canned goods. The food giveaway by nonprofit Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee came during the last week of the month — a few days after Kara Bellenger’s September food stamp allotment had run out. The 21-year-old mother is attending a community college program to become a crime scene investigator and said she hasn’t been able to find part-time work to support her 2-year-old son…”
