Starting Friday, food stamp benefits will be trimmed back because a temporary boost from the 2009 stimulus bill is expiring. More than 47 million Americans one in seven will see less food on their plates. A family of four, for example, will get $36 less a month. That might not seem like much until you consider the average household monthly benefit is only $287. The Congressional Budget Office expects spending on food stamps in fiscal 2014 to fall by $5 billion.
As a result, the Illinois Hunger Coalition says, more than 2 million Illinois residents including about 349,000 seniors and 886,000 children will have to tighten their belts just as home heating bills are about to soar.
And it could just be a step on the way to more cuts. Both houses of Congress have passed bills that would further trim food stamps, technically known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The House would cut food stamps by $4 billion a year and would tighten eligibility. The Senate bill would cut just $400 million. Talks on a compromise bill began Wednesday afternoon.
SNAP critics, alarmed that the governments tab for food stamps has more than doubled since 2008 to almost $80 billion, say the program needs to be scaled back. But thats not taking into account how many people are struggling financially. Although about 20 percent of the increase is due to the stimulus, which is ending, much of the rest is due to the struggling economy, as more peoples incomes drop to levels at which they qualify for aid.
Really it is partisan when democrats extend food stamps in 2009 but didn't make it permanent when they had the votes to do it in 2009. It was and always has been about votes with democrats.
