Of course, the government should provide a basic safety net for Americans who are truly struggling, but that doesn’t mean this spending should go unchecked.
Spending on food stamps is skyrocketing. The program suffers from waste, fraud and abuse. The federal government spent more than $78 billion on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) last year, more than twice the amount it spent before President Barack Obama took office. Considering Washington’s spending problem, lawmakers should seek common-sense ways to help low-income people put food on their tables and ensure safeguards for taxpayers.
Although part of the growth in food stamp spending is due to high unemployment, there are more significant factors. The biggest driver for the growth in food stamp spending is efforts at the state level to sweep more people into the program. Governments have exploited loopholes and removed eligibility barriers to secure more federal dollars.
One way to fix the problem of unchecked food stamp spending is to split the farm bill in two: food stamps and farm programs. No longer should lawmakers roll these parts together in order to shield them from reforms and fast-track them into law. It’s time to consider these parts separately.
Congress should also consider turning food stamp programs into a block grant and then turning control over to the states. This would give Georgia the flexibility to adapt our food stamp program to our unique needs, which would improve effectiveness and control costs. Local and state governments are much better equipped to address the needs of communities than the federal government. Block grants would be an improvement over current policy, in which states have an incentive to procure as many federal dollars as possible.
A third fix would be to close loopholes that automatically enroll people based on their participation in other, specified programs, known as “categorical eligibility.” This would ensurethe people receiving food stamps are truly low income, and cut down on people who game the system.
Closing the “LIHEAP loophole,” the name for the automatic income deduction for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program recipients, would save $10.8 billion over the next decade, according to theCongressional Budget Office. Simply applying income and asset tests to eligible households would reduce federal spending by $10 billion over this period.
House- and Senate-appointed conferees are meeting to resolve differences in the farm bill legislation that came out of Congress this summer. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is participating on this committee. He and his colleagues should know Georgians are watching closely. Supporting reckless spending levels is not why we sent them to Washington.
Joel Aaron Foster is communications director for Americans for Prosperity Georgia.
