Food Stamps Cuts Left Undone, SNAP Fully Funded For Now

Food stamps were not part of the recently passed Farm Bill of 2013, so where does that leave the proposed food stamps cuts?

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, food stamps used to be part of the Farm Bill, but Republicans recently separated food stamps from the Farm Bill in order to get it passed.

Food stamps, official known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, were combined with the farm bills in 1970’s in order to gain Democratic votes. But the House of Representatives, which is required to start all budget bills in Congress, wanted to cut spending in the Farm Bill. But disagreements over the food stamps cuts led many Republicans to vote it down. Thus it was proposed to axe food stamps from the Farm Bill in order to handle any food stamps cuts separately.

Food Stamps Cuts: Now What?

Food stamps are a $80 billion per year program relied on by one in seven Americans. The overall cost of food stamps have doubled since 2008. The decision to strip food stamps from the farm bill actually left the SNAP program fully funded and untouched.

Rampant food stamps fraud has caused Republicans to propose laws affecting eligibility with drug checks and increasing work requirements. This is due to people illegally spending their food stamps on porn, alcohol, and other non-food items. They’ve even proposed allowing the states to administer how the food stamps money is spent. They claim that “by splitting the bill, we can give taxpayers an honest look at how Washington spends our money.” But both parties agree that food stamps should be cut by billions… just not by how much. Republicans say three percent needs to be cut but Democrats oppose any further cuts beyond half a percent.

Do you think changes to food stamps laws are needed?