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When the $26 billion Emergency State Aid package was passed this week and signed by President Barack Obama, it was funded in part by cutting the food stamp program.TPR’s David Martin Davies reports anti-hunger advocates are crying foul.
August 11, 2010 · When the U.S. Senate and the Congress were passing emergency state aid legislation, many democratic leaders didn’t want to be seen adding to the national deficit. So they had to balance the spending with budget cuts. And it was the food stamp program that felt the squeeze.
JC Dwyer is the State Policy Director for the Texas Food Bank Network.
“It was a really tough vote for the democrats, because it was a package that they really wanted to pass. It was aid for those with Medicaid as well as for teachers' salaries," Dwyer said. "The Senate came up with the food stamps cuts to do that easily, because frankly food stamps are not a constituency that has a lot of power and money behind it."
Dwyer said that at as the nation deals with nearly 10 percent unemployment and food banks are experiencing record need, now is an in aninappropriate time to be cutting back on the food stamp program.
“This is absolutely the worst time for Texas families to see a cut in their benefits. The average family of four will see a cut of $59 between March and April of 2014 under the current proposal,” he said.
South Texas democratic congressmen Henry Cuellar, Ciro Rodriguez, Solomon Ortiz and Charlie Gonzalez have signed a letter critical of the food stamp cuts.
Dwyer said it’s likely that the money will be reinstated later after the November elections, but that it’s not fair to play politics with the hungry.
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