What’s Another 4 Million Hungry Americans?

For all of you who thought the house GOP proposal to cut $20.5 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) back in June wasn’t cruel enough… Good news! Just minutes ago, the House voted to embrace the “Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013” which will gut the SNAP program by about $40 billion dollars, throwing nearly 4 million Americans off the program, and reducing benefits for millions more. (In addition to already deep cuts to the program hitting this November.)

Majority Leader Eric Cantor sees the bill as sort of a “Welfare Reform 2.0”, introducing the most restrictive changes to food stamp eligibility since the welfare reform of the Clinton years.

The roughly $40 billion in cuts come in two main forms. First, the new proposal includes the elimination of “categorical eligibility” offered by a majority of states. That option allows for households with gross incomes modestly above the SNAP eligibility requirement but disposable incomes below the federal poverty line to qualify for food stamps. Clamping down on “categorical eligibility” would also prevent about 200,000 children from qualifying for free school meals, since their eligibility for that program is linked to household eligibility for SNAP.

The bill would also encourage states to prohibit unemployed people from getting access to benefits by eliminating a crucial state waiver. Under existing law, unemployed childless adults between the ages of 18 and 50 have access to SNAP only three months out of every three years, unless they can enroll in a job training program. However, states are allowed to receive waivers exempting high unemployment areas from these requirements. The proposed bill would eliminate this waiver authority, with the stated goal of incentivizing recipients to find work.

The previous bill, containing just $20.5 billion in cuts, was defeated in June through a combination of Democratic opposition to the excessive cuts and GOP members who felt the cuts weren’t painful enough. Today’s vote, while successful, still had 15 GOP members in opposition. Presumably, they had some qualms with letting 4 million Americans go hungry and/or shifting this burden to already-struggling states. Then again, maybe they still find the program too generous? After all, Republicans never seem to tire of the ol’ “food stamp moochers living on caviar and crab legs” trope.

By: Sandi Behrns

Sandi Behrns is a noted policy nerd, new media & web developer, and consultant to progressive organizations and campaigns. She is a senior contributor to Liberaland, and the Executive Editor of Progressive Congress News.