When President Trump's budget director this week unveiled the administration's proposed spending blueprint, which calls for significant cuts to food stamps, he said the goal was to get recipients into the work force. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture says 44 percent of Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have at least one employed member of their immediate families. And 55 percent families with kids who get food stamps are employed. 84 percent of all SNAP recipients are children, seniors or people with disabilities.
Ohio Association of Foodbanks director Lisa Hamler-Fugitt says recipients who are employed are in jobs that do not pay enough to make ends meet. The budget plan cuts 192 billion dollars in food stamp funding, which she says means 25 percent benefit cut for 1.5 million Ohioans.
Hamler-Fugitt says 300 thousand Ohioans have been taken off the rolls since 2014 because they were unable to find employment or enroll in a qualifying work-experience program. The budget plan cuts 800 billion dollars from Medicaid and 272 billion from welfare programs, while boosting military spending by billions and giving out large tax breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations.
