Get ready: Republicans propose bill with a 10-year, $40 billion cut to federal food stamp program
By Victor Trammell
The congressional battle over the issue of government spending has come to a head once again. According to NBC News, the Republicans have a deal on the table that outlines its plan to cut the nation’s food stamp budget by $40 billion over the next decade.
The move will drastically reduce benefits for all the millions of Americans dependent on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).
Congressional Republicans claim the amount of people who were approved for SNAP benefits skyrocketed after the 2008-2009 national recession. They also claim that the program’s current annual 78 billion dollar price tag is unsustainable.
Congressional Democrats on the other side of the battle agree that such a steep cut in an incredibly weak economy would aggravate the problem of hunger for a growing number of Americans in poverty.
Doug Heye, the deputy chief of staff for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., delivered a statement on Thursday (Aug. 1), which claimed the new Republican bill would “include common-sense measures, such as work requirements and job-training requirements for able-bodied adults without children receiving assistance, that enjoy a broad range of support.” (NBC News)
The new Republican bill was produced by Cantor and Frank Lucas, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The bill will be considered for passage into law by all House Republicans after the August congressional recess.
U.S. House Representative Collin Peterson (D), another member of the House Agriculture Committee, vowed that not one Democrat in Congress will cast a single vote in favor of the Republican food stamp budget cut. “I don’t know what the hell they’re trying to do other than placate the Wall Street Journal and the Club for Growth and the Heritage, I don’t know what they’re doing,” Peterson told NBC.
A previous food stamp bill failed to pass on the House floor on June 20.
