House Plan Would Cut $40 Billion from SNAP Over 10 Years

When the Republican-led House voted to separate the nutrition title  from the Farm Bill, this left the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other safety-net programs very vulnerable to sharp cuts.  Those fears were realized this past week, when reports appeared that the House was working on a plan to cut $40 billion from SNAP over 10 years.

If these cuts become a reality, they could spell bad news for New Mexico, which ranks last in the nation in terms of child hunger, according to reports by Feeding America and the Annie E. Casey Foundation (Kids Count Data Center).  Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, has spoken out passionately against the cuts in SNAP. Fortunately, the House is not the only chamber of Congress that decides policy.  The Senate's version of the Farm Bill only cuts SNAP by $4 billion.  

The cuts in food stamps raised strong concerns among anti-hunger advocates  “Bread for the World is outraged by the proposed $40 billion cut to SNAP in the new food assistance bill being formulated in the House," said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "We know firsthand the suffering and crises that poor families face every day, even in a recovering economy. This cut would substantially increase the suffering of 47 million Americans who depend on SNAP to keep hunger at bay." Read More

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