End of Stimulus Funds Triggers $5-Billion Food Stamps Cut

The country’s 47 million food-stamp recipients will see their benefits shrink by an average of 5 percent this week as additional financing for the federal nutrition-aid program included in the 2009 economic-stimulus law expires, The Washington Post and Bloomberg report.

The automatic reduction of about $5-billion will take place on Nov. 1, barring congressional action to change the stimulus law, which lawmakers said is not forthcoming. The cut will trim a family of four’s payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by $36 a month, according to the Agriculture Department.

Spending on food stamps climbed to a record $78.4-million in fiscal 2012 as the recession swelled enrollment in the program. Congressional Republicans have called for deep cuts in food stamps, with House and Senate members set to resume talks this week over a farm-subsidy bill that includes the nutrition program’s budget.