The governors of at least six states — New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Montana and Oregon — have now taken measures to protect more than a combined $800 million in annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, and more states are expected to follow suit. Their actions threaten — over time — to wipe out the more than $8 billion in cuts over 10 years to the food stamp program that were just passed by Congress as part of the 2014 farm bill.
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), one of the 2014 farm bill’s four principal architects, warned: “I suspect that this will create a call for action from members of the House and … these governors now will cause a new set of hearings, a new set of bills, a new set of appropriations amendments.”
Lucas likened the governors’ actions at the center of the controversy to mining dollars from the U.S. Treasury.
“What becomes of it, I do not know, but if they’re going to try to keep mining, then this becomes a live issue,” he said.
In the ramp up to passing the farm bill early last month, the House of Representatives initially put forth a bill that would have cut food stamps by $40 billion over 10 years, but the four principal negotiators — Lucas and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) — agreed, in conference, to a compromise that included a smaller — yet substantial reduction.
Their solution: Raise the threshold for participation in a program — known as “heat and eat” — that allows states to qualify households for as much as $90 per month in additional food stamp benefits by providing them with benefits, no matter how small, from the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
