Congress has been tasked to cut spending via budget reconciliation going on now. It could result in changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka SNAP. To adhere to the reconciliation budget instructions agreed to by the House and Senate, the House Agriculture Committee proposed shifting a blanket 25 percent of SNAP costs on state governments.
Steve Etka, policy director for the Midwest Dairy Coalition, says there’s a lot of concern about what’s been put on the table in terms of cuts to food and agriculture programs through the reconciliation process.
“The bulk of the cuts that the ag committee has been tasked to come up with will fall largely on nutrition programs,” he explains. “The nutrition programs are important to farmers too, because the more folks have access to food, the more of the farmers’ products are being consumed.”
Wisconsin’s Rep. Derrick Van Orden urged House Ag Committee Chair Rep. GT Thompson to reconsider the proposal. Van Orden offered an alternative that would tie each state’s cost-sharing responsibility to its SNAP error rate. For instance, Wisconsin had a 4.74 percent overpayment error rate in 2023. So, the state would be responsible for 4.74 percent of the cost.
“Any solution must avoid placing disproportionate burdens on rural states, where food insecurity is often more widespread,” Van Orden wrote in a letter to Thompson. “These communities are already underserved. We cannot place the financial responsibility on the backs of some of our most vulnerable populations, including hungry children. Period.”
He says rather than threatening the benefits of SNAP recipients, the government should focus on correcting inefficiencies.
“In FY2023, the national SNAP overpayment error rate was 10.03 percent, resulting in an estimated $13 billion in improperly issued benefits,” Van Orden wrote. “This is where our attention should be.”
House Democrats are not entirely on board with the compromise.
“I think Congressman Van Orden — he did due diligence,” Illinois Rep. Eric Sorensen told Mid-West Farm Report’s Stephanie Hoff.
Sorensen, a member of the House Ag Committee, saluted Van Orden for asking Wisconsin’s elected officials if they could afford to fit the bill for SNAP. But he doesn’t support Van Orden’s alternative.
“It’s the same thing that I’ve asked in the state of Illinois… the answer is no,” he said. “If that is the case, we shouldn’t be cutting (SNAP). I wouldn’t support that.”
