Battle over food stamps going on in Statehouses, and D.C.

By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World

Marian Poe, executive director of Rice County Communities that Serve in Lyons, said she looked at her email the afternoon of Sept. 30 and her jaw dropped.

Just one day before the renewal of a federal grant to help poor people access food stamps was to take effect, the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, informed her and other grantees that the state was no longer going to use those funds.

"It was a total shock," Poe said.

But Republican officials in state Capitols and Washington have been calling for deep cuts in food stamps, saying that the program has grown out of control.

House Republicans have approved a bill that would cut $40 billion in food stamps, kicking millions of people out of the program.

Nationwide, the number of people receiving benefits under the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Program, also called SNAP or referred to as food stamps, has increased approximately 75 percent since 2007.

Defenders of the program, however, say the increase was justified — the nation went through the Great Recession and the economic recovery has been slow. Nearly 47 million people live in poverty, the highest level in two decades. Currently, nearly 320,000 Kansans receive food stamps.

Kansas U.S. House delegation votes for bill to reduce $39 billion in food stamps over 10 years

By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World

All four Kansas members in the U.S. House voted Thursday for a Republican plan to cut food stamps by $39 billion that would cause nearly 4 million people to lose benefits.

The measure passed 217-210 with only Republican support, and now goes to the Senate. Democrats have said it won't pass in the Senate and the White House has threatened to veto the bill if it ever came to President Barack Obama's desk.

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, whose district includes Lawrence, defended the bill, saying it would provide for families and children who truly need the program, which is called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

"Congress has a responsibility to support and empower individuals and families in their time of need, and this bill will protect the ability of programs like SNAP to provide benefits to those who need them," Jenkins said.

Critics said the cut would hurt poor families with children, seniors, veterans and people looking for work. More than 47 million, or 1 in 7 Americans, depend on the program.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the plan would result in 3.8 million people losing their benefits.

A Senate version of the bill would trim SNAP by about one-tenth of the House cut.

U.S. Reps. Tim Huelskamp of Fowler, Mike Pompeo of Wichita and Kevin Yoder of Overland Park also voted for the bill.