Big jump in food-stamp enrollment drives farm bill debate, By Charles Pope, July 22, 2012, The Oregonian: “The farm bill Congress is struggling to pass is enormous — a $958 billion piece of legislation filling 600 pages that seems nearly as expansive as the horizon-to-horizon mega-farms and ranches it governs. Whether it passes this year depends on the response to two questions that have nothing to do with agriculture and affect everyone in the country: Who should pay to reduce the nation’s $1.2 trillion deficit? And, what is the government’s obligation to help people in need? In addition to crop and conservation programs, the farm bill pays for food stamps, technically the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. The recession spurred growth in the program, which now helps 46 million Americans, including one in five in Oregon…”
Tag: Farm Bill
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- House Democrats fall short in efforts to block food stamp cuts as lawmakers write farm bill, Associated Press, July 11, 2012, Washington Post: “Democrats fell short in efforts Wednesday to block cuts to the food stamp program as the House Agriculture Committee moved ahead on a half-trillion-dollar bill to fund farm and nutrition programs over the next five years. The program that helps feed 46 million people at a cost of near $80 billion a year was the dominant issue as committee members tried to advance one of the larger and more expensive bills that Congress is taking up this year. Democrats insisted that any cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would result in people going hungry. Republicans said they were merely trying to bring efficiency to a program to ensure that anyone who is qualified for food benefits will receive them…”
- Number of Georgians on food stamps balloons, By Daniel Malloy and Katie Leslie, July 7, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Nearly one in five Georgians now gets federal assistance to put dinner on the table. As Congress debates the future of the food stamp program, with Republicans looking to cut it back, the number of recipients in Georgia has ballooned to 1.9 million as of April, or nearly 20 percent of the population. The state’s 0.4 percent increase from March was the seventh largest growth rate in the country, making Georgia one of 13 states where the number of beneficiaries rose, according to data compiled by the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center…”
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Republicans Want Food Stamps Cut In Big Farm Bill, By The Associated Press, June 18, 2012, NPR: “The 1,000-page “farm bill” being debated in the Senate is somewhat of a misnomer. Four of every five dollars in it — roughly $80 billion a year — goes for grocery bills for one of every seven Americans through food stamps. Republicans say Congress could cut the cost $2 billion a year by just closing a pair of loopholes that some states use to award benefits to people who otherwise might not qualify. “This is more than just a financial issue. It is a moral issue,” says Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., one of several Republicans pushing for cuts in spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP. The program has swelled from 28 million to 46 million participants and its costs have doubled in the past four years. The recession and slow recovery have increased the number of people unemployed over the same period from 8 million to 12 million. . .”