States move ahead with food stamp cuts,By Jake Grovum, September 23, 2013, Stateline: “Some states are already embracing deep cuts to the food stamp program similar to those passed by House Republicans in Washington, ending the food subsidy for tens of thousands of low-income Americans regardless of what Congress does. Spurred by the ballooning cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the GOP-dominated House voted Thursday 217-210 to cut $39 billion in the food assistance program over 10 years. Among the changes: Ending waivers for states that during the recession allowed as many as 4 million people to collect food stamps who otherwise would not have qualified…”
Miss. GOP delegation backs food stamps cut, By Deborah Barfield Berry and Christopher Doering, September 22, 2013, Jackson Clarion-Ledger: “Ann McCullen isn’t sure how families who depend on the food pantry in Hattiesburg will manage if a House bill slashing food stamp spending by $39 billion over 10 years becomes law. But, she has faith lawmakers will “make good choices.” “We have people who are the working poor, and they’re still not able to make ends meet,” said McCullen, executive director of the Edwards Street Fellowship Center, which operates a food pantry twice a week…”
Planned cuts in food stamps decried, By Alfred Lubrano, September 22, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer: “The vote by the House of Representatives on Thursday to slash billions from food stamps has rocked local advocates for the poor, who see the move as a potential blow to people already struggling to survive. At the same time, advocates praised four local Republican congressmen who bucked their party and voted against the cuts…”
House passes GOP plan to slash food stamp funding, By Ed O’Keefe and Niraj Chokshi, September 19, 2013, Washington Post: ” The House narrowly approved a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s food-stamp program Thursday that would slash food aid to about 4 million Americans over the next few years and shift a greater burden of taking care of the poor to state governments. The Republican-backed plan, which would cut about $39 billion in funding for food-stamp programs over the next decade, differs sharply from a bipartisan Senate proposal passed in June, and its passage is likely to further strain relations between the two chambers as they prepare to spend the next several weeks battling over a short-term budget deal and raising the federal debt limit…”
House Republicans pass deep cuts in food stamps, By Ron Nixon, September 19, 2013, New York Times: “House Republicans narrowly pushed through a bill on Thursday that slashes billions of dollars from the food stamp program, over the objections of Democrats and a veto threat from President Obama. The vote set up what promised to be a major clash with the Senate and dashed hopes for passage this year of a new five-year farm bill…”
House passes bill to cut food-stamp spending, By Kristina Peterson, September 19, 2013, Wall Street Journal: “The House on Thursday narrowly passed a bill curtailing spending on food stamps, setting up a battle with the Senate, which backs far smaller cuts. The vote was 217-210. The bill would cut nearly $40 billion over a decade, or about 5% in expected spending, from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs. The Senate has called for a cut of about $4 billion to the programs. About 48 million Americans received food-stamp benefits last year…”
House bill would take 3.8 million off food stamps, By Jennifer Liberto, September 19, 2013, CNNMoney: “House Republicans on Thursday passed a controversial bill that would drop 3.8 million people from food stamp rolls next year by making it tougher for some families to qualify. The bill would cut $40 billion from food stamps over the next decade, which would force about 14 million people from the program by 2023, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office…”
Food stamp cuts could send more to Minn. food shelves, Associated Press, September 16, 2013, Crookston Times: “Officials and advocates for the needy in central Minnesota say cuts to the food stamp program could have harsh effects on many low-income families, while area food shelves and other groups say they expect to see an increase in the number of people they serve. The federal farm bill, which funds food stamps and nutrition programs, will expire at the end of the month if Congress fails to renew it. In July, the House passed a new version of the bill, but it didn’t include foot stamps and the bill is now stalled. An earlier, unsuccessful, House bill included more than $20 billion in cuts, while a Senate version passed in May proposes $4 billion in cuts…”
Proposed food stamp cuts put most vulnerable at risk, By Gary Gately, September 17, 2013, Youth Today: “One in five Americans said they lacked enough money at times in the past year to buy the food they or their families needed, a new Gallup poll shows. Little wonder, then, that critics say a Republican bill to slash food stamp spending by $40 billion over the next 10 years would prove devastating to families struggling to put food on the table.“It’s awful; I don’t have enough words to express what a terrible, unprecedented slashing of the safety net this is,” Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, told Youth Today…”
