Greene County Democrat

Tag: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

  • Newswire : Congressional Black Caucus sounds alarm to protect SNAP benefits

    CBC members hold press conference on Capitol steps to counter SNAP cuts

    By Lauren Burke, NNPA Newswire
    During a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on March 25, members of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke out with concern about budgetary threats to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). CBC Chair Yvette Clarke spoke of “grave concerns” about the “Republican scheme to cut billions of dollars to cut SNAP benefits that help millions of American families.”
    “Twenty percent of Black households have faced food insecurity compared to 7 percent of their white counterparts. Forty-two percent of all SNAP recipients are children. In fact, 4 in 5 SNAP households include a child, an elder, or an individual with a disability,” the CBC Chair added. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as the Food Stamp Program began during the Great Depression but has changed significantly over time. In 2008, the Food Stamp Program was renamed SNAP. The 1980s saw budget cuts and stricter eligibility requirements under President Ronald Reagan. In the 1990s, a welfare reform push under President Bill Clinton led to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. That legislation mandated work requirements and restrictions on certain groups such as non-citizens.
    Today with a push towards billions in cuts by President Trump and continuous talk of cuts to social programs by Elon Musk, Republicans in the U.S. House have been positioning to cut programs to free the budget up for a tax cut focused on the top 1 percent in the U.S. “It is outrageous that Republicans have spent all their time working to dismantle the social safety net including SNAP,” Rep. Clarke said outside of the Capitol today. “SNAP is not a handout, it is a lifeline,” she added.
    One of the lead members of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA). “SNAP’s effects go beyond just the people in need — it’s also the farmers and the businesses that provide the food,” Rep. Bishop said standing in front of ten of his colleagues as tourists and school groups listened nearby. If there are big cuts to SNAP, “over 285,000 jobs would be at risk” Rep. Bishop pointed out. “Real people are going to be hurt if the $230 billion in SNAP cuts are forced upon the American people,”
    Rep. Bishop added. In 2023, approximately 36.8 million people in the U.S. were living in poverty, representing an official poverty rate of 11.1%. This figure reflects a slight decrease from the previous year’s rate of 11.5%, equating to about 37.9 million individuals in poverty in 2022.

  • Newswire : House Republican budget plan targets vital services, hits Black and marginalized communities hardest

    Food store with accepting SNAP – food stamps

    By Stacy M. Brown
    NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    The House Republican budget passed Tuesday proposes sweeping cuts to health care, food assistance, and education programs, aiming to fund $4.5 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade. The cuts include $880 billion from Medicaid, $230 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and $330 billion from student loan programs through 2034. These reductions come amid a push to extend the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts and other tax relief measures benefiting wealthy households and corporations.
    According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the cost of extending tax breaks for the top 1% of earners—amounting to $1.1 trillion through 2034—mirrors the proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts. Wealthy households making $743,000 or more annually would receive an average tax cut of $62,000, exceeding the median income of most of the 72 million people covered by Medicaid.
    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) criticized the proposal, stating, “The House Republican budget resolution will set in motion the largest Medicaid cut in American history.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called the plan “a blueprint for American decline” that prioritizes billionaires over working families.
    The proposed cuts would disproportionately affect Black, Latino, Indigenous, and rural communities, which have higher rates of poverty and reliance on programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The Kaiser Family Foundation states that over 80 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. Cuts to these programs could force states to shoulder more costs, leaving millions uninsured.
    The budget would also end enhancements to the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits, raising health care premiums for more than 20 million people. Student loan borrowers face higher repayment costs, further burdening low-income families.
    While the House plan calls for increased border security and military spending, its projected tax cuts—renewing the Trump tax cuts and implementing no taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security—would swell the federal deficit. Despite these cuts, the budget projects the national debt limit will be reached by November 2026.
    Only Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) voted against the budget, citing concerns over worsening deficits. “If the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better,” Massie posted on social media.

  • Newswire : Understanding the nation’s ticking fiscal time clock 

    U.S. Capitol with government shutdown signs

    By Charlene Crowell, NNPA Newswire Contributor

    For the second time this year, Congress’ inability to reach consensus on essential fiscal legislation has devolved into largely partisan bickering and literal, last-minute temporary financial band-aids. On September 30, the last day of the 2022-2023 federal fiscal year, a continuing resolution (CR) provided a 45-day reprieve, just in time to meet a midnight deadline that would have resulted in a federal government shutdown.
    In signing the stop-gap appropriations measure, President Joe Biden acknowledged its benefit and also reminded the nation of how unnecessary it really was.
    “This bill ensures that active-duty troops will continue to get paid, travelers will be spared airport delays, millions of women and children will continue to have access to vital nutrition assistance, and so much more,” said President Biden. “But I want to be clear: we should never have been in this position in the first place. Just a few months ago, Speaker McCarthy and I reached a budget agreement to avoid precisely this type of manufactured crisis.” Readers may recall that in late spring and facing a first-ever national debt default, another piece of compromise legislation led to the Fiscal Accountability Act.

    That eleventh hour maneuver provided a two-year window for the Treasury Department to borrow – as needed – funds to pay the nation’s more than $31 trillion of debt.  In return, according to the Congressional Budget Office  (CBO), cutbacks on discretionary spending would result in a drop in projected budget deficits of about $4.8 trillion over the next decade, and a savings of $0.5 trillion in interest. But this fiscal compromise requires Congress to return to that deferred problem in January 2025.

    Neither of these developments have been well-received by the public. Only days before the September 30 fiscal rescue, a consumer poll taken September 19-24 by Monmouth University echoed President Biden’s concerns:
    74 percent of respondents disapproved of the job Congress is doing;
    68 percent believed the government is on the wrong track; and
    64 percent supported compromise to enact a new budget.

    “The vast majority of Americans want to avoid a shutdown. The faction who does not want any compromise may represent a small proportion of the public, but they hold outsized influence in the U.S. Capitol,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

    By mid-November, the nation will again face a shutdown at a time when families typically and excitedly finalize preparations for annual Thanksgiving gatherings. If a full federal spending plan for the new 2023-2024 fiscal year that began October 1 is not approved, many will also await learning whether the federal government will be able to function during a season dedicated to blessings.
    As with most budget cut decisions, potentially affected personnel are understandably anxious. Currently, there are 4.5 million people who are either military or civilian federal employees, according to the CBO.
    Similarly, agencies that administer programs that respond to vital needs are in a similar dilemma.
    For example, the stark rise in requests for disaster relief from flooding, hurricanes, and wildfires caused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to recently appeal to Congress for an additional $16 billion to serve communities in distress. On September 19, Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator testified before a House subcommittee, alerted lawmakers to the agency’s shrinking ability to keep pace with surging requests.

    “On average, we are seeing a disaster declaration every three days,” testified Criswell. “We strive to be vigilant stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we are careful in our projections of how much funding will be required for the Disaster Relief Fund. However, there are times when the number and intensity of disasters outpaces appropriated funds, and we find ourselves in such a moment today.”

    Funding for these and other needs now have been added to the traditional conservative calls to cut entitlement programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) more commonly known as food stamps. As of this spring, 41.9 million people who comprise 22.2 million households were enrolled in SNAP, according to Pew Research.

    According to the Department of Education, an estimated 26 million students would be affected by a proposed $4 billion cut in funding schools serving low-income children. In higher education, Pell Grants that provide a critical source of financial aid for low-to-moderate income college students would be cut by 22 percent, and the maximum award would be lowered to $1,000 – at a time when the cost to attend college continues to soar.
    Time will tell whether this Congress will face and respond to America’s real needs. But tens of millions of Americans potentially could be impacted by a federal government closure while the nation is on a ticking fiscal time clock.