JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
House and Senate negotiators have
reached an agreement on a new farm bill that includes a roughly $800
million reduction in annual food stamp funding, a 1 percent cut to the
$80-billion-a-year program.
reached an agreement on a new farm bill that includes a roughly $800
million reduction in annual food stamp funding, a 1 percent cut to the
$80-billion-a-year program.
The 949-page
agreement, announced on Monday by members of the House and Senate
Agriculture Committees, comes after almost two years of congressional
infighting over the $1 trillion farm bill, which outlines federal
spending on a range of agricultural and nutritional issues over the next
five years.
agreement, announced on Monday by members of the House and Senate
Agriculture Committees, comes after almost two years of congressional
infighting over the $1 trillion farm bill, which outlines federal
spending on a range of agricultural and nutritional issues over the next
five years.
Much of the
political sparring was over the depth and scope of proposed cuts to food
stamps, formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), a program that has rounded out in recent years to include about 1
in 7 Americans. Republican lawmakers were pressing for cuts of no less
than $40 billion over 10 years. President Obama and Senate Democrats
voiced staunch opposition to such slashes, calling for a more modest
trim of $4 billion over the same period.
political sparring was over the depth and scope of proposed cuts to food
stamps, formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), a program that has rounded out in recent years to include about 1
in 7 Americans. Republican lawmakers were pressing for cuts of no less
than $40 billion over 10 years. President Obama and Senate Democrats
voiced staunch opposition to such slashes, calling for a more modest
trim of $4 billion over the same period.
The
compromise would cut $8 billion from food stamps over a decade and
would do so without ousting any current enrollees from the program,
committee members said. It also largely sidesteps Republican lawmakers’
demands to taper spending with tighter food stamp eligibility
requirements, instead cutting funding through provisions to curb fraud.
Thecompromise would cut $8 billion from food stamps over a decade and
would do so without ousting any current enrollees from the program,
committee members said. It also largely sidesteps Republican lawmakers’
demands to taper spending with tighter food stamp eligibility
requirements, instead cutting funding through provisions to curb fraud.
broad measure also includes an end to expensive and controversial
direct payments to farmers and an expansion of government-backed crop
insurance. Overall, the proposal trims federal spending by about $23
billion over the next 10 years.
The proposed food stamp cuts are
coming at a time when more Americans are on food stamps than at almost
any other time in the past decade. In fiscal year 2006, one year before
the recession curdled the job market, the number of people on food
stamps was about 26,000. As of July 2013, that number is 48 million.
But
how to interpret the surge in food stamp participation has been split
along partisan lines. Republicans have said that the expanding program
is flush with participants who are not in true need, but are rather
taking advantage of loopholes or poor oversight. Democrats, though, have
said that the program has burgeoned with people who have not yet found
their footing after the recession jolted their communities.
In the
new bipartisan agreement, the cuts to food stamps are just a fifth of
those outlined in the Republican-controlled House’s farm bill, passed
last summer. The House’s proposed $40 billion in cuts, to occur over 10
years, had fueled outcry from Democrats and anti-hunger advocates that
some 4 million people would be booted out of the program, according to
estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The
Democrat-controlled Senate’s version of the farm bill, also passed over
the summer, would have shaved some $4 billion in funds from the food
stamp program, ousting about 400,000 people, according to estimates from
Feeding America.
Committee members said on Monday that the
agreed-upon cuts to the program would save federal dollars without
kicking any current recipients out of the program, largely by addressing
areas of waste and fraud that some congressional members say have
dogged the program for years.
Among the major cost-saving
measures: closing a loophole that had allowed some states to reduce
residents’ federal heating assistance benefits so they qualified for
food stamps. Closing the loophole would reduce, but not entirely cut,
benefits to some 850,000 households, according to CBO estimates.
The
agreement also clamps down on people receiving benefits in multiple
states or under a deceased person’s name, bans lottery winners or anyone
who collects big gambling earnings, and prohibits the Department of
Agriculture from using federal dollars to advertise the food stamp
program and cull new recruits.
On the whole, the compromise dials
back the strict food stamp eligibility requirements that the House had
proposed in its bill. The House legislation would have required adults
between 18 and 50 without dependents to be either employed or enrolled
in a work-training program to collect benefits. It also would have
allowed states to mandate drug testing for food stamp recipients.
But
the agreement does take the food stamp program’s lifetime ban on
convicted drug felons receiving benefits and extends it to include
felons convicted of other, violent crimes, including murder and sexual
assault – an amendment that anti-hunger advocates have called overly
punitive and liable to send recidivism rates surging. The exclusion
applies only to violent felons convicted after the act’s passage, so it
would not throw current convicts out of the food stamp program.
the agreement does take the food stamp program’s lifetime ban on
convicted drug felons receiving benefits and extends it to include
felons convicted of other, violent crimes, including murder and sexual
assault – an amendment that anti-hunger advocates have called overly
punitive and liable to send recidivism rates surging. The exclusion
applies only to violent felons convicted after the act’s passage, so it
would not throw current convicts out of the food stamp program.
The
agreement also includes provisions for pilot work-eligibility programs,
modeled on those outlined in the House bill, to be launched in up to 10
states.
agreement also includes provisions for pilot work-eligibility programs,
modeled on those outlined in the House bill, to be launched in up to 10
states.
There is still some
question if the agreement – expected to be introduced on the House floor
on Wednesday – will make it through both the House and the Senate.
question if the agreement – expected to be introduced on the House floor
on Wednesday – will make it through both the House and the Senate.
Some
Republicans on Monday signaled their intention to vote the agreement
down, calling the trims to food stamp funding far too slight.
Republicans on Monday signaled their intention to vote the agreement
down, calling the trims to food stamp funding far too slight.
“I cannot march backwards and deliver more spending, more regulations and more waste,"
said Sen. Pat Roberts (R) of Kansas in a statement. "What we have today
is a ballooning and expensive set of federal nutrition programs with a
patchwork of eligibility standards, loopholes, and frankly unneeded
give-a-ways to state governments."
said Sen. Pat Roberts (R) of Kansas in a statement. "What we have today
is a ballooning and expensive set of federal nutrition programs with a
patchwork of eligibility standards, loopholes, and frankly unneeded
give-a-ways to state governments."
In June, the House had voted down a version of the farm bill, backed by Speaker John Boehner
(R) of Ohio, that included $20 billion in cuts to food stamps, in favor
of passing a bill with $40 billion in cuts. Speaker Boehner has expressed his support for the latest agreement, Politico reported.
(R) of Ohio, that included $20 billion in cuts to food stamps, in favor
of passing a bill with $40 billion in cuts. Speaker Boehner has expressed his support for the latest agreement, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats said the cuts went much too far.
"Only in Washington could a final bill that doubles
the already egregious cuts to hungry families while somehow creating
less total savings than originally proposed be called progress," said
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York, according to The Washington
Post.
the already egregious cuts to hungry families while somehow creating
less total savings than originally proposed be called progress," said
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York, according to The Washington
Post.
Earlier this week, an analysis
from The Associated Press and University of Kentucky economists found
that the most rapid growth in enrollment in food stamps has centered on
people with at least some college education – suggesting that higher
education, the proverbial ticket above the poverty line, is no longer a
guarantee.
from The Associated Press and University of Kentucky economists found
that the most rapid growth in enrollment in food stamps has centered on
people with at least some college education – suggesting that higher
education, the proverbial ticket above the poverty line, is no longer a
guarantee.
The report also
spotlighted the failure of wages to keep pace with inflation. Even as a
once-dismal job market comes back and unemployment ebbs, employed
Americans are still liable to remain highly dependent on food stamps,
the report said.
spotlighted the failure of wages to keep pace with inflation. Even as a
once-dismal job market comes back and unemployment ebbs, employed
Americans are still liable to remain highly dependent on food stamps,
the report said.
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