At least 17 states took advantage of the allowance SNAP makes for matching qualifications. GOP ready to quell food stamp revolt

Republican leaders are threatening to take congressional action to stop state governors from flouting the food stamp cuts contained in the 2014 farm bill.

The governors of at least six states — New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Montana and Oregon — have now taken measures to protect more than a combined $800 million in annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, and more states are expected to follow suit. Their actions threaten — over time — to wipe out the more than $8 billion in cuts over 10 years to the food stamp program that were just passed by Congress as part of the 2014 farm bill.


But those who initially supported the food stamp cuts are warning that retaliatory actions may be coming.

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“Since the passage of the farm bill, states have found ways to cheat, once again, on signing up people for food stamps,” Speaker of the House John Boehner told reporters Thursday. “And so I would hope that the House would act to try to stop this cheating and this fraud from continuing.”

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), one of the 2014 farm bill’s four principal architects, warned: “I suspect that this will create a call for action from members of the House and … these governors now will cause a new set of hearings, a new set of bills, a new set of appropriations amendments.”

Lucas likened the governors’ actions at the center of the controversy to mining dollars from the U.S. Treasury.

“What becomes of it, I do not know, but if they’re going to try to keep mining, then this becomes a live issue,” he said.

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In the ramp up to passing the farm bill early last month, the House of Representatives initially put forth a bill that would have cut food stamps by $40 billion over 10 years, but the four principal negotiators — Lucas and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) — agreed, in conference, to a compromise that included a smaller — yet substantial reduction.

Their solution: Raise the threshold for participation in a program — known as “heat and eat” — that allows states to qualify households for as much as $90 per month in additional food stamp benefits by providing them with benefits, no matter how small, from the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

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At least 17 states took advantage of the allowance SNAP makes for matching qualifications, providing their residents with as little as $1 per month in federal heating assistance to also qualify them for the additional food stamps, a Government Accountability Office report found. However, by simply requiring states to provide more than $20 in LIHEAP assistance in order to qualify a household for the added SNAP benefits, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the farm bill’s four principals could cut food stamp spending by more than $8 billion over 10 years.

The farm bill’s four principal negotiators grabbed the CBO estimate and ran. They included the change in the farm bill conference report, which was then passed by the full House and Senate.

However, the entire $8 billion in government savings may never be realized as, over the course of roughly two weeks, five state governors already have agreed to raise their “heat and eat” contributions. At least three others — California, Vermont and Wisconsin — are considering taking the same steps.

Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) expressed anger Friday over the possibility that none of the cuts to the SNAP program would be realized and asked USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack during an appropriations hearing whether he had any inside knowledge that states would nullify the benefit reductions.

Vilsack said he didn’t know or suspect what the states would do, but defended their right to take action.

“Frankly, as a former governor and former state senator, I respect the role of governors and legislatures to make decisions that they think are in their state’s best interests,” Vilsack said.

Not satisfied, Yoder asked whether Vilsack knew how much, if anything, Congress would be able to save from the SNAP cuts contained in the farm bill.

“People are still making decisions in respect to the states that are impacted by the LIHEAP decision. … I think it’s a little early to determine what that savings is going to be,” Vilsack responded.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, one of the first to announce plans to raise his state’s LIHEAP contributions in order to maintain the additional SNAP benefits, defended his actions by saying his state was “stepping up” to protect its “most vulnerable residents’ [ability] to put food on the table.”

New York will put forth an additional $6 million in LIHEAP contributions to prevent $457 million in food stamp cuts, affecting some 300,000 families from low-income households.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, one of the latest to join the movement, explained that he is taking steps to preserve his state’s economy. Rhode Island will put forth about $1.4 million in additional LIHEAP dollars to make sure 69,000 families don’t lose about $69 million in additional SNAP benefits.

In some cases, the expense is small. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana announced this week that his state will put forth just $24,000 in additional LIHEAP benefits to protect $2 million in additional SNAP benefits for more than 2,000families of low-income households.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), another farm bill conference committee member and a sharp critic of any cuts to food stamps, hopes his state will be the next to increase heating assistance checks to stop the loss of food stamp benefits.

“The cuts to SNAP in the farm bill demonstrate how out of touch members of Congress are from what’s going on in their districts,” McGovern said. “The governors obviously are trying to make up the difference here, trying to respond to this because they see a need, but the people down here in Washington are in another world, and they seem to have no appreciation of how difficult it is to be poor in this country.”

Though opposed to the actions being taken by states, Peterson told POLITICO Thursday that he wasn’t exactly surprised.

“Why wouldn’t a governor take $6 million of federal money … and get $450 million back?” he asked rhetorically. “Why wouldn’t you do that? I kept saying to my staff, how can [the CBO] score this at $8 billion because it’s not going to be there.”

Regardless, the backlash from Congress will be severe, warned Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a member of the farm bill conference committee and one of the advocates for food stamp cuts. He predicts Republicans might now try to overhaul food stamps completely.

“We can’t have the governors of these states gaming the system and thumbing their noses at the United States Congress,” he said. “This begs for block grants to the states for food stamps and then they have some skin in the game. Then they’ll have a different attitude. So whether or not we get this fixed in the short term — if we don’t, it’s more likely we’ll fix it real good in the longer term.”