COLUMBUS, Ohio – Historic changes to one of the nation’s foremost anti-hunger programs will be debated today in the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
After its release just last week, the House of Representatives’ version of the 2018 Farm Bill is expected to move swiftly through the House, which is troublesome to hunger-fighting groups including the Ohio Association of Foodbanks.
That organization’s executive director, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, said the proposal imposes a strict work mandate for those receiving help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“Let me be clear,” she said. “The current bill as it stands will increase hunger and contribute to escalating health-care costs instead of maintaining our country’s long-term commitment to providing hunger relief and working to prevent hunger and food insecurity.”
Currently, SNAP recipients aged 18 to 49 without dependents are subject to work requirements. The legislation would expand the age to 59, and include parents with children ages 6 and older. Those who fall short of the 20-hour-per-week work requirement could lose benefits after one month.
Supporters of the bill have maintained that the changes will incentivize work and lift people out of poverty, while continuing support for those in need.
According to Hamler-Fugitt, the majority of SNAP recipients already are employed, but often in low-paying, part-time positions with inflexible hours that make it difficult to meet work requirements. She noted that some 375,000 Ohioans lost SNAP assistance after the state rejected a work-requirement wavier four years ago.
“Many of them were not able to get employment. They could no longer stand in grocery store checkout lines in order to purchase food,” she said. “Instead they’ve been forced into food bank, food pantry, and soup kitchen lines in order to feed themselves.”
The Farm Bill is renewed every five years, and Hamler-Fugitt noted that it typically has bipartisan support.
“Democrats and Republicans, urban and rural interests all work together acknowledging and understanding the interconnectedness of our country’s food system,” she said. “This partisan farm bill undermines nutrition assistance for vulnerable Ohioans who are already living on the margins.”
The nearly 1.5 million Ohioans who rely on SNAP assistance receive, on average, about $120 a month to help buy groceries.
Details of the legislation are online at agri-pulse.com.
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2018.
MATTHEW 25:31-40
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. (NIV)
The Bible tells Christians to encourage lazy people to procreate and have tons of children out of wedlock and then to reinforce that immoral behavior by giving them all sorts of freebies? Really? Wow, the things you learn on these boards.
The point of that passage being posted is that we aren’t supposed to be concerned with how people got into the position that they are. We should love them no matter what. None of us are perfect, and we would grateful for help if we were in the situation where we couldn’t feed our own children.
Real love is showing love without condition. Not punishing people who are in a hopeless place.
Teach a man to fish, hell eat forever. Or are Clevelands finest unable to learn how to support themselves instead of bearing bastard children year after year. Anything that encourages this scum to leave Cleveland and Ohio Im all for. Go to California or better yet Venezuela. They live socialist leeches.
Teach a man to fish, hell eat forever. Or are Clevelands finest unable to learn how to support themselves instead of bearing bastard children year after year. Anything that encourages this scum to leave Cleveland and Ohio Im all for. Go to California or better yet Venezuela. They live socialist leeches.
hell*
hell
Spellcheck strikes again.
…he will…
Back when the recession first started research showed that a lot of Ohioans who qualified for benefits, like food stamps, weren’t applying for them. In other words, welfare benefits were being underused in Ohio, not overused, as so many people think. The big concern was that children and elderly people were going hungry and there was a big push to register people for benefits. I do not know if this is still true in Ohio, but it appears that in 2013 it was still true nationally. Scene does like links in its posts so Google the article Food Stamps Avoided By Millions Of Eligible Americans by Huff Post to get more info on this problem. A lot of people like to think other people are nothing but lazy thugs so they can feel superior to them. That’s pretty sick in my opinion and it leads to lots of people not applying for benefits they desperately need – out of pride.