GOP Plan to Cut $39 Billion in Food Stamps Passes House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a Republican proposed plan to cut food stamps by $39 billion.
The cuts will take place over the next decade and will affect close to 48 million Americans.
The House voted 217-210 for the bill that cuts nearly twice as much from food stamps as a bill the House rejected in June. It is also far more than a Senate measure passed earlier this year that would trim about $4.5 billion in spending. The bill failed to draw the support of a single Democrat, many of whom have said the steep cuts would erode a key safety net depended upon by families with children, seniors, veterans and people looking for work. Fifteen Republicans also voted against the bill. Republicans argued that the bill would restore the program’s original eligibility limits and preserve the safety net for the truly needy.
3 million people will lose benefits altogether, and an additional 850,000 would see a reduction in their current benefits.
The White House threatened to veto the bill, as it views food stamps as “one of the nation’s strongest defenses against hunger and poverty.”
Millions will be affected by the reduction in food stamps. Thoughts on the passing of the bill?
Is it time to elect new congressmen?
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