Tag: SNAP

Food Stamp expenditures already dropping, with decline expected to fall faster over next five years

November 21, 2013 at 1:07 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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Federal spending on the SNAP program—formally known as food stamps—is already declining as a share of the economy, according to a new report released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  This is the case even though some critics, who claim that SNAP is growing out of control, are calling for deeper SNAP cuts as part of current congressional negotiations over the Farm Bill. These cuts would come on top of the cuts that took place earlier this month.

North Carolina has the fifth highest food insecurity rate in the nation, and cuts on top of cuts will create an even greater challenge for the 1 in 6 Tar Heel households that struggle with too few resources to meet their family’s nutritional needs.

As expected, there was a steep rise in SNAP spending due to the Great Recession—the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression during the 1930s—and the lagging recovery. However, this spending trend is reversing, with the decline in spending expected to accelerate over the next five years (see chart below). Read More…

Looming cuts to SNAP will hit nearly 51,000 veterans in North Carolina

October 29, 2013 at 4:51 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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This Friday, approximately 1.7 million North Carolinians—including 51,000 veterans—will see their food assistance cut when a temporary boost in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits ends, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). Such cuts will be another blow to Tar Heel families trying to make ends meet and get a foothold on the economic ladder. Of those receiving SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) in North Carolina, 85 percent are households with children, older adults, or people with disabilities (see this chart).

SNAP benefits are very modest now, with an average monthly benefit of $121.37 per person in North Carolina. The looming benefit cut will vary depending on family size, ranging from $36 a month for a family of four to $11 a month for a single person. These are deep cuts, equating to about 16 “thrifty” meals per month for a family of three, according to the CBPP report. Read More…

Prosperity Watch: Too many North Carolinians going hungry

October 23, 2013 at 3:30 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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In the latest issue of Prosperity Watch, Alexandra Sirota takes a look at food insecurity in North Carolina, and finds that far too many of our state’s residents don’t have enough food to eat. As a result, recent decisions by state government to temporarily halt critical food assistance programs due to the federal government shutdown placed thousands of families at risk of hunger–especially those living in rural North Carolina. See the latest Prosperity Watch for details.

U.S. House votes to increase hunger in North Carolina

September 19, 2013 at 6:10 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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As we warned earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives has been considering significant and draconian changes to the nation’s leading anti-hunger program–effectively wiping out critical food assistance for our state’s seniors, veterans and even children—comes just as new poverty data shows even more North Carolinians are struggling.

In a slim 217 to 210 vote, a bitterly divided House voted in favor of a controversial, extreme and stunningly harsh measure that cuts a staggering $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—formerly known as food stamps.  The cuts are twice the amount originally proposed by the House earlier this year and ten times more than those adopted by a strong bipartisan majority in the U.S. Senate. If the legislation becomes law, it will take away food assistance for as many as four million poor Americans.  Independent budget analysts have confirmed the proposal is so extreme it would take away food assistance for children, seniors and veterans.

In North Carolina, 1.7 million families rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to put food on their tables.  At a cost of only $1.35 per meal in North Carolina, it is also one of the nation’s most efficient and effective services for the poor. New data by the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities show the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program lifted a record four million Americans out of poverty in 2012, and it reduced hardship for millions more.

At a time when special tax loopholes allow corporations and the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying upwards of $1 trillion in taxes every year, Congress shouldn’t be turning to North Carolina’s poorest people to find savings—especially children and others who are unable to work for their own food. This proposal is blatantly immoral, and must be stopped by the Senate. No one should be in the business of causing hunger, yet that’s the choice the House just made with this vote.

 

US House voting today on whether to increase hunger in America

September 19, 2013 at 3:29 pmCategory:NC Budget and Tax Center

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In a case of spectacularly bad timing, the U.S. House of Representatives is poised to increase hunger among our state’s most vulnerable residents on the very same day that new reports from the Census Bureau revealed that poverty is on the rise in North Carolina. Despite the fact that one-in-five North Carolinians live in poverty, the House is taking up a hugely controversial package that wipes out critical food assistance for more than a million North Carolina families.

This extreme and harsh measure cuts a staggering $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—formerly known as food stamps, a program which has lifted 4 million out of poverty last year alone and is considered one of the nation’s most effective anti-poverty tools.  The cuts are twice the amount originally proposed by the House earlier this year and ten times more than those adopted by a strong bipartisan majority in the U.S. Senate.

If the legislation becomes law, it will take away food assistance for as many as four million poor Americans, including 1.7 million North Carolinians.  Independent budget analysts have confirmed the proposal is so extreme it would take away food assistance for children, seniors and veterans.

But there’s still time for the House to change course, reject this punitive measure, and ensure that 4 million people won’t go hungry. Visit this link if you want to to urge your Congressional representatives to vote against this immoral proposal.