History professor Heather Cox Richardson’s November 2 edition of Letters from an American compares President Biden’s appeal to rural voters to anticipated actions of House Republicans on SNAP by the end of the year. Richardson writes,
In contrast to Biden’s outreach to farmers, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing a dilemma over the nation’s next farm bill, which must be passed by the end of the year. According to Clark Merrefield of The Journalist’s Resource, Congress usually debates and renews the farm bill every five years, and the last one passed in 2018.
Farm bills include price support for farm products, especially corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, dairy, and sugar. It also includes crop insurance, conservation programs, and a wide variety of other agricultural programs, making the farm bill hugely popular in rural areas that focus on farming.
Also included in the measure are nutritional programs for low-income Americans, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. SNAP serves 41 million low-income Americans, but as a member of the far-right Republican Study Committee, Johnson called for cutting SNAP benefits. Now his far-right colleagues are echoing his position, saying that the need to renew the farm bill is a great opportunity to make significant cuts to SNAP, especially since the farm bill is expected to bear a price tag of more than $1 trillion for the first time in our history.
“I can’t imagine the Mike Johnson that we know would pass up the opportunity to secure as many conservative wins as possible in this farm bill,” a Republican aide told Meredith Lee Hill of Politico, “[a]nd that means serious SNAP reforms.”
But even some Republicans—primarily those who hail from agricultural states—object to loading the farm bill up with the poison pill of SNAP cuts, knowing such a tactic would repel Democrats, whose votes will be necessary to pass the measure as far-right Republicans balk.
So what’s the big deal?
According to American Community Survey 5-Year data (2017-2021), three of the four counties on the Northern Neck―Lancaster (9.4%), Richmond (12.7%), and Westmoreland (17.8%)―had more households participating in this federal food supplement program than the Virginia state average of 8% (not including confidence intervals). In fact, Westmoreland County’s household participation of 17.8% was about 40% higher than the state rural average of 12.9%. (Source: SNAP Matters in Every Community—Metros, Small Towns, and Rural Communities)
SNAP participation is more than the number of households: It’s about people. In Lancaster County, it’s 1,011 people. In Northumberland County, 896. It’s 917 people in Richmond County and 3,265 people in Westmoreland County. As for benefits, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) reports the average SNAP benefit in nominal dollars, fiscal year 2023 (estimated, after all pandemic measures expire) in Virginia for each household member per month is $181. That’s $5.94 for each household member per day. (Source: A Closer Look at Who Benefits from SNAP: State-by-State Fact Sheets | Virginia)
There’s much more to the story, as Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out. Things like households with children and disabled. The image below tells more about Virginia SNAP participants.
SNAP benefits the local economy
Again, CBPP:The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that in a weak economy, $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.50 in economic activity. Households receive SNAP benefits on electronic benefit transfer cards, which can be used only to purchase food at one of about 254,400 authorized retail locations around the country, including some 6,300 in Virginia.
Small and local businesses benefit from SNAP as is shown by EBT Retailer Search results, below.
