If you remember P.J. O’Rourke’s farm bill anecdote from a 2007 John Locke Foundation speech, you’re unlikely to be surprised that the current farm bill debate has little to do with farming. Matthew Glans explains in a Human Events article.
A great deal of the debate over the bill will center on reductions in the food stamp program, which comprises a large portion of the spending in the Farm Bill. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp program, has become one of the fastest growing welfare programs provided by the US government. SNAP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture while the benefits are distributed by individual U.S. states.
Nearly 80% of the $955 billion Farm Bill is devoted to SNAP. In an effort to control the rising cost of SNAP payments, both the Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill reduce the funding levels for SNAP. The Senate version cuts $4 billion from the program, which is predicted to cut the expected cost of the program to about $760 billion over the next 10 years while adding provisions to combat the illegal trafficking of food stamps. The House version takes these cuts even further, cutting the SNAP program by around $20.5 billion over 10 years. The White House has warned legislators in the House that if they pass the larger cuts the President may veto the bill.
According to the Congressional Bridget Office, 1 in 7 Americans receive SNAP benefits, at a cost of $134 each month, this equates to a monthly cost of around $6 billion. Over the last five years, SNAP’s costs have doubled. According to the Associated Press, in 2012 alone, SNAP cost $78.4 billion to put 46 million people on food stamps; in 2006, 26 million people received benefits at a cost of $33 billion. Regardless of the cuts Congress decides to make, the fact that SNAP has been growing at a rapid rate cannot be ignored. Similar growth over an extended period may create a situation where the program cannot be sustained.
The key issues with SNAP are centered on eligibility, waste and abuse. In the states using categorical eligibility for the SNAP program, recipients are determined not by the set income and asset limitations of SNAP, but by participation in other cash welfare assistance programs, which can have lesser eligibility standards.
