Lawmakers spar over food stamps

Lawmakers sparred over the federal government’s food stamp program on Wednesday, debating reforms enacted in the 2014 farm bill.

The House Agriculture Committee’s nutrition subpanel heard from a number of experts on the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The 2014 bill made $8.6 billion in cuts to the program and instituted new reforms. Republicans touted the savings to taxpayers and changes they say made the program more efficient.

{mosads}Subcommittee Chairwoman Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) said states now have more flexibility to implement their programs with new work initiatives.

“The much discussed SNAP work pilots allow 10 states to test various approaches to serving recipients,” Walorksi said. “In exchange for a share of federal funds, they must agree to comprehensive, external evaluation aimed at measuring increases in employment and overall household incomes.” 

Ten states began operating “pilot programs” after receiving funds from the Department of Agriculture to help move people off the food stamp program. The pilot programs received bipartisan praise.

But Democrats also pushed back on Wednesday, arguing that the funding cuts had taken benefits from needy Americans.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the subcommittee’s ranking member, said SNAP needs more funding.

“We have documentation from the farm bill that these cuts have done a lot of damage to people,” McGovern told The Hill after the hearing.

“SNAP is not a jobs program, it is a food program,” he stated. “The evidence shows us that SNAP works.”

James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, agreed, telling the committee, “SNAP produces important positive impacts on mental health and child development. For example, an important report states that exposure to SNAP in utero reduces obesity, diabetes, and hypertension diseases.”

Some experts, though, questioned if SNAP is an effective nutrition program.

“There is little hard evidence on the impact of SNAP,” noted James Sullivan, an associate professor of economics at Notre Dame. 

Sullivan mentioned the same report Weill cited, yet pointed out that “this evidence is for those exposed to food stamps in the late 1960s and early 1970s.”

Lawmakers are not expected to make any new changes to the food stamp program ahead of the 2018 farm bill.

But Democrats have seized on the issue. House Dems lawmakers earlier Wednesday unveiled a “hunger guide” they said highlighted the need for more funding for federal nutrition programs.

—This story was updated on July 16 at 1:12 p.m.