Rep. McGovern: New Farm Bill Will Impact the Most Vulnerable Americans
A proposed overhaul of food stamps, the largest federal public assistance program in the country, has created a partisan fight over the Farm Bill in the House Agriculture Committee, traditionally one of the most bipartisan committees in Congress.
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which used to be known as food stamps, makes up around [80 percent](https://www.farmpolicyfacts.org/farm-policy-history/) of mandatory spending in the Farm Bill. It provides around [42 million Americans](https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/pd/29SNAPcurrPP.pdf) with an average of about [$125 a month per person]
(https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/pd/SNAPsummary.pdf) to buy groceries and other necessities, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The House Agriculture Committee voted last week to introduce a new Farm Bill to the House on a strict party-line vote (26 to 20). The new measure, which would replace the old law set to expire in September, is largely uncontroversial, leaving many of the current farmers' subsidies unchanged.
The major point of contention has to do with proposed changes to SNAP that would enact stricter requirements on aid recipients. All able-bodied recipients between the ages of 18 and 59 would be required to enroll in state-run employment or training programs for [20 hours a week](https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/agriculture_and_nutrition_act_of_2018_section_by_section.pdf) in order to receive food aid. Those who aren't enrolled would be ineligible for benefits for 12 months. The bill also allocates $1 billion a year for states to establish those mandatory education and training programs.
These changes to the food aid program offer "beneficiaries a springboard out of poverty to a good paying job, and opportunity for a better way of life," said the committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), in a [statement](https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4277) last week.
House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the proposed plan, and said it was “the precise thing we need to get people from welfare to work.” The Farm Bill requirements are similar to those included in a recent [executive order issued by President Trump](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/us/trump-work-requirements-assistance-programs.html) that would require low-income recipients of federal aid or housing assistance to work or risk losing their benefits.
Democrats on the committee said such requirements would result in millions of the country's most vulnerable citizens kicked out of a program they rely on to survive. Furthermore, the ranking member of the subcommittee on nutrition, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said the bill was drafted without Democrats' input.
“We held 23 hearings on SNAP. Nothing in the Farm Bill reflects those hearings,” McGovern said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar.
“The majority of people who are on SNAP are not expected to work ー they’re kids, they’re seniors, they’re people who are disabled. Of those who can work, the majority work,” said McGovern.
He also said that the new funding for education and training amounts to only about $25 to $30 per person ー far short of what is needed.
The Congressional Budget Office will release its own analysis of the bill and it could reportedly reach the floor for a vote in early [May](https://about.bgov.com/blog/farm-bill-slated-house-floor-action-week-may-7/).
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-jim-mcgovern-d-ma-is-sick-and-tired-of-republicans-beating-up-on-poor-people).
The school shooting in Texas that left 19 children and 2 teachers dead has reignited the debate over gun control.
The tragedy in Uvalde is the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade and marks the latest in a string of mass shootings in the country. Jared Moskowitz, Broward County Commissioner and candidate for Congress in FL-23, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why gun control measures are stalled in the Senate, and where legislation can move forward from here.
Police and detectives are still investigating the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two adults. Cheddar News was joined by Kirk Burkhalter, professor at New York Law School and former NYPD detective to gain some insight on what investigators are looking for and what comes next.
Texas authorities say the gunman who massacred 21 people at an elementary school was in the building for over an hour before he was killed by law enforcement officers.
Join Cheddar News as we break down the top headlines for Thursday, May 26 including updates on the Texas school shooting, President Joe Biden's executive order on police reform, and a recount in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary.
Representative Morgan Griffith of Virginia rebuked words from the FDA commissioner that could have been construed as blaming parents for stockpiling baby formula exacerbating the shortage.
Cheddar News reporter Megan Pratz brings the latest from the scene of yesterday's horrific school shooting at a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Now the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with 19 children and two adults killed, Pratz goes into comments by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, details about the deceased shooter, and reactions from members of the community.
The Robb Elementary School mass shooting killing 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas pm Tuesday was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and came just 10 days after the grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York. Nelson Vergara, the founder and CEO of 360 Protective Solutions, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to discuss. "Right now what law enforcement is concentrating on is trying to trace his steps as to what motivated the gunman to act the way he did. What it boils down to just trying to figure out what led to his motivation to do such a horrific act.”
An recently conducted AP-NORC poll found that majorities of the Black and Hispanic populations in the U.S. still find themselves either somewhat worried or extremely worried over the pandemic, while more than half of white Americans responded with either being not too worried or not worried at all. Dr. Chris Pernell, the chief strategic integration and health equity officer at University Hospital, joined Cheddar News to talk about how perceptions of COVID-19 differ between groups of Americans. "We’re still seeing people get infected, and because of the toll of the disproportionate impact, we have concerns among the Black and brown community about whether or not they have an increased risk of exposure because of where they work, because of the use of public transportation, because they live in homes that they may not be able to safely quarantine and or isolate in, and because they have at baseline chronic health conditions that may make coronavirus more severe in those persons," she said.
Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the EPA and the president of Beyond Plastics, joined Cheddar News to talk about the role of plastics in the climate crisis and California's investigation of ExxonMobil and other oil companies for misleading the public on the ability to recycle plastics. "The reason why petrochemical companies like Exxon have gotten away with selling more and more plastic is that they've lied to the public and told us don't worry about all those negative upstream impacts and downstream impacts of plastics. Just be sure to recycle it. Well, guess what? Plastics largely are not recycled," Enck said.
