Former House Speaker and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Foley, D-Wash., who died last week, played a major role in writing the Food Stamp Act of 1977, Robert Greenstein writes in a blog post.

Greenstein, founder and president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, was in charge of the food stamp program in the President Jimmy Carter administration.

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — Remembering Tom Foley