Merkely, Stabenow explain food stamp shutdown problem, oppose Cochran CR to restrict Planned Parenthood funding
September 22, 2015 |07:28 PM
Republicans should resolve the issue of a government shutdown as soon as possible because the Agriculture Department does not have enough money in the food stamp contingency fund to pay for a full month of benefits, Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said today.
Also, if Congress waits until next week to pass a continuing resolution, there might be a delay in benefits because the states would not be able to tell vendors to load their computers quickly enough for people to access benefits on their electronic benefit transfer cards on October 1, Merkley and Stabenow said.
In a call to reporters, Merkley called the shutdown “a self-inflicted wound” that would affect all Americans, but said a shutdown this year would be worse than in 2013 because food stamps would be cut off.
The difference, he added, is that two years ago USDA still had funds under the Recovery Act to increase benefits under food stamps, and was able to use that money. The food stamp program is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. That authority has since run out.
Merkley and Stabenow explained that there is a $3 billion SNAP contingency fund, but that the cost of food stamps is $6 billion per month and the department does not have enough spending authority to issue the monthly benefits.
“The majority of SNAP recipients are among the most vulnerable in our society,” Merkley said. “The poverty threshold is about $24,000, but more than half of food stamp recipients are living on less than $12,000 for a family of four,” he added.
At the end of the month, Stabenow said, food stamp beneficiaries are “literally slicing the last of the bread and have only a little bit of milk — if they have to wait two, three four, five days, that is a hardship.”
The Obama administration “is going to keep working night and day to try to avoid this catastrophe but the word they are conveying to us now is that they do not have the authority” to transfer funds in any way that would make the payments possible,” Merkely said.
A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department confirmed Merkley’s and Stabenow’s statements.
“The administration strongly believes that a lapse in appropriations should not occur,” the spokesperson said.
“There is enough time for Congress to prevent a lapse in appropriations, and the administration is willing to accept a clean, short-term continuing resolution to fund government operations and allow Congress more time to negotiate an agreement that invests in middle-class economic priorities and helps our entire economy grow.
“However, at this time, prudent management requires that the government plan for the possibility of a lapse, and USDA is working with OMB [the Office of Management and Budget] to take appropriate action.
“SNAP benefits are provided on a monthly basis to some of America’s most vulnerable households, including families with children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities,” the spokesperson said. “Households use these benefits to put food on the table. If Congress does not act to avert a lapse in appropriations, then USDA will not have the funding necessary for SNAP benefits in October and will be forced to stop providing benefits within the first several days of October.”
“Once that occurs, families won’t be able to use these benefits at grocery stores to buy the food their families need. SNAP is just one of many government services on which the American people depend and that can only operate normally if Congress acts to prevent a lapse in appropriations.”
Merkley described what would happen to SNAP beneficiaries during a shutdown.
“As families go to have their [electronic benefit] cards recharged, they will be cut off,” he said.
“We are deeply concerned about the potential of a government shutdown,” Stabenow said. “It is really irresponsible that the Republicans are placing partisanship before people.”
“If we can resolve this this week or by Monday, no one will be in a position not to be able to provide food,” she added.
But Merkley and Stabenow also said that a proposal released today by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., to fund the government through December 11 won’t solve the problem. The proposal would restrict health funding for Planned Parenthood to those offices that do not perform abortions.
“It is outrageous that women’s health care is being held hostage,” Stabenow said.
She added that Cochran’s continuing resolution will not receive enough votes, “they know it will not receive enough votes. It is part of the political brinksmanship.”
Taking time to debate the Cochran proposal would only bring the government closer to a shutdown and make it more likely that even if a continuing resolution passes at the last minute food stamp beneficiaries will still see a delay in getting their benefits, Stabenow said.
Merkley noted that there is a delay between programming computers and the availability of benefits, adding that Cochran’s “move was expected, but it is enormously irresponsible.”
USDA calculates SNAP benefits on a monthly basis, and has been unable to program its computers for a shorter period of time. Last Friday, with the issue of government funding beyond September 30 unresolved, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service told state officials in a memo “to hold their October issuance files and delay transmission to state electronic benefit transfer (EBT) vendors until further notice.”
Stabenow said the situation is different from Social Security and Medicare, which have different regulations to make sure payments are made.
Congress could change the rules on food stamps to keep the program going. States that distribute benefits later in the month would not be affected immediately, unless there is a government shutdown in which benefits for all states might be delayed.
Child nutrition programs, including school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC, would not be affected because the states are reimbursed for the expenditures at the end of the month rather than the beginning, Stabenow said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, a member of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said that 230,000 residents of her state are in danger of losing their benefits
“A politically motivated government shutdown would be a real hardship for thousands of Maine families, veterans and seniors who depend on food stamps to help make ends meet each month,” Pingree said.
“It's shameful that some Congressional Republicans are trying to use their opposition to Planned Parenthood to force a government shutdown at the expense of families struggling to put food on the table.”
Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., called Cochran's Planned Parenthood provision a “poison pill rider.”
“We are eight days away from a government shutdown," Mikulski said. "Let’s stop wasting time with these political stunts. We need a new budget deal that invests in America to protect our national security, rebuild our physical infrastructure, create jobs today and jobs tomorrow and meet compelling human needs.”
“In 2013, the Republicans shutdown the government in an attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act,” she continued. “Earlier this year, they tried to shut down the Department of Homeland Security over the president’s immigration policy,” Mikulski said.
“Today, Senate Republicans showed that they are ready to shut down the government over the defunding of Planned Parenthood — an organization that provides 2.7 million people with access to health care every year,” she said. “Even Senate Majority Leader McConnell has admitted that tying the defunding of Planned Parenthood to government funding will not work and is ‘an exercise in futility’ that could lead to a government shutdown.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a former chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, added, “Republican cruelty to those less fortunate than them has stooped to a new low.”
“I spoke with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this afternoon and he very clearly said that there is not enough money in the SNAP contingency fund to prevent millions of Americans from going hungry should the government shut down on October 1,” DeLauro said.
“That is the fault of one group of people only: Republicans in Congress. They have long waged a war against the poor and vulnerable. With this renewed intransigence over the federal budget, congressional Republicans have shown that they are content simply to let poor people starve. To hear of this impending disaster when we are preparing to hear from His Holiness Pope Francis, who has spoken so eloquently about hunger, is nothing short of a cruel joke.”
In a response to the Merkley-Stabenow news release, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in an email, “The best way to ensure SNAP recipients receive needed support is to vote for the CR. I’m prepared to do so and if members are worried about SNAP funding, they should too.”
Also, if Congress waits until next week to pass a continuing resolution, there might be a delay in benefits because the states would not be able to tell vendors to load their computers quickly enough for people to access benefits on their electronic benefit transfer cards on October 1, Merkley and Stabenow said.
In a call to reporters, Merkley called the shutdown “a self-inflicted wound” that would affect all Americans, but said a shutdown this year would be worse than in 2013 because food stamps would be cut off.
The difference, he added, is that two years ago USDA still had funds under the Recovery Act to increase benefits under food stamps, and was able to use that money. The food stamp program is formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. That authority has since run out.
Merkley and Stabenow explained that there is a $3 billion SNAP contingency fund, but that the cost of food stamps is $6 billion per month and the department does not have enough spending authority to issue the monthly benefits.
“The majority of SNAP recipients are among the most vulnerable in our society,” Merkley said. “The poverty threshold is about $24,000, but more than half of food stamp recipients are living on less than $12,000 for a family of four,” he added.
At the end of the month, Stabenow said, food stamp beneficiaries are “literally slicing the last of the bread and have only a little bit of milk — if they have to wait two, three four, five days, that is a hardship.”
The Obama administration “is going to keep working night and day to try to avoid this catastrophe but the word they are conveying to us now is that they do not have the authority” to transfer funds in any way that would make the payments possible,” Merkely said.
A spokesperson for the Agriculture Department confirmed Merkley’s and Stabenow’s statements.
“The administration strongly believes that a lapse in appropriations should not occur,” the spokesperson said.
“There is enough time for Congress to prevent a lapse in appropriations, and the administration is willing to accept a clean, short-term continuing resolution to fund government operations and allow Congress more time to negotiate an agreement that invests in middle-class economic priorities and helps our entire economy grow.
“However, at this time, prudent management requires that the government plan for the possibility of a lapse, and USDA is working with OMB [the Office of Management and Budget] to take appropriate action.
“SNAP benefits are provided on a monthly basis to some of America’s most vulnerable households, including families with children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities,” the spokesperson said. “Households use these benefits to put food on the table. If Congress does not act to avert a lapse in appropriations, then USDA will not have the funding necessary for SNAP benefits in October and will be forced to stop providing benefits within the first several days of October.”
“Once that occurs, families won’t be able to use these benefits at grocery stores to buy the food their families need. SNAP is just one of many government services on which the American people depend and that can only operate normally if Congress acts to prevent a lapse in appropriations.”
Merkley described what would happen to SNAP beneficiaries during a shutdown.
“As families go to have their [electronic benefit] cards recharged, they will be cut off,” he said.
“We are deeply concerned about the potential of a government shutdown,” Stabenow said. “It is really irresponsible that the Republicans are placing partisanship before people.”
“If we can resolve this this week or by Monday, no one will be in a position not to be able to provide food,” she added.
But Merkley and Stabenow also said that a proposal released today by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., to fund the government through December 11 won’t solve the problem. The proposal would restrict health funding for Planned Parenthood to those offices that do not perform abortions.
“It is outrageous that women’s health care is being held hostage,” Stabenow said.
She added that Cochran’s continuing resolution will not receive enough votes, “they know it will not receive enough votes. It is part of the political brinksmanship.”
Taking time to debate the Cochran proposal would only bring the government closer to a shutdown and make it more likely that even if a continuing resolution passes at the last minute food stamp beneficiaries will still see a delay in getting their benefits, Stabenow said.
Merkley noted that there is a delay between programming computers and the availability of benefits, adding that Cochran’s “move was expected, but it is enormously irresponsible.”
USDA calculates SNAP benefits on a monthly basis, and has been unable to program its computers for a shorter period of time. Last Friday, with the issue of government funding beyond September 30 unresolved, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service told state officials in a memo “to hold their October issuance files and delay transmission to state electronic benefit transfer (EBT) vendors until further notice.”
Stabenow said the situation is different from Social Security and Medicare, which have different regulations to make sure payments are made.
Congress could change the rules on food stamps to keep the program going. States that distribute benefits later in the month would not be affected immediately, unless there is a government shutdown in which benefits for all states might be delayed.
Child nutrition programs, including school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC, would not be affected because the states are reimbursed for the expenditures at the end of the month rather than the beginning, Stabenow said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, a member of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said that 230,000 residents of her state are in danger of losing their benefits
“A politically motivated government shutdown would be a real hardship for thousands of Maine families, veterans and seniors who depend on food stamps to help make ends meet each month,” Pingree said.
“It's shameful that some Congressional Republicans are trying to use their opposition to Planned Parenthood to force a government shutdown at the expense of families struggling to put food on the table.”
Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., called Cochran's Planned Parenthood provision a “poison pill rider.”
“We are eight days away from a government shutdown," Mikulski said. "Let’s stop wasting time with these political stunts. We need a new budget deal that invests in America to protect our national security, rebuild our physical infrastructure, create jobs today and jobs tomorrow and meet compelling human needs.”
“In 2013, the Republicans shutdown the government in an attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act,” she continued. “Earlier this year, they tried to shut down the Department of Homeland Security over the president’s immigration policy,” Mikulski said.
“Today, Senate Republicans showed that they are ready to shut down the government over the defunding of Planned Parenthood — an organization that provides 2.7 million people with access to health care every year,” she said. “Even Senate Majority Leader McConnell has admitted that tying the defunding of Planned Parenthood to government funding will not work and is ‘an exercise in futility’ that could lead to a government shutdown.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a former chairwoman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, added, “Republican cruelty to those less fortunate than them has stooped to a new low.”
“I spoke with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this afternoon and he very clearly said that there is not enough money in the SNAP contingency fund to prevent millions of Americans from going hungry should the government shut down on October 1,” DeLauro said.
“That is the fault of one group of people only: Republicans in Congress. They have long waged a war against the poor and vulnerable. With this renewed intransigence over the federal budget, congressional Republicans have shown that they are content simply to let poor people starve. To hear of this impending disaster when we are preparing to hear from His Holiness Pope Francis, who has spoken so eloquently about hunger, is nothing short of a cruel joke.”
In a response to the Merkley-Stabenow news release, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in an email, “The best way to ensure SNAP recipients receive needed support is to vote for the CR. I’m prepared to do so and if members are worried about SNAP funding, they should too.”
