{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1183", "Domestic Violence Awareness Month", "2014-10-31", "2014", "2014-10", "Democrat", "House", "WI", "Gwen Moore", "M001160", "gwenmoore.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "By\u00a0Alexa Ardis\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tWith the end of funding from the 2009 stimulus bill, a new report revealed 47 million Americans using food stamps will have less money per month to buy meals.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps, gives assistance in buying groceries for low-income individuals and families throughout the United States, according to the United States Department of Agriculture website.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThe upcoming cuts to SNAP benefits will be significant and have far-reaching impacts on low-income individuals and families,\u201d the report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said. \u201cThey will likely increase hardship for the more than 47 million Americans who rely upon SNAP to meet their basic nutritional needs.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe report adds Congress is \u201cunlikely\u201d to pass legislation to blunt the effects of the cut, but the existing levels of benefits are considered to be inadequate by some experts.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tHowever, Regan Hopper, acting director of public affairs at the DOA\u2019s Food and Nutrition Service, said SNAP benefits are not ending, and in fact, this change is not as drastic as many think.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cSNAP benefits are reducing,\u201d Hopper said, \u201cbut they\u2019re basically just being restored back to the original level of benefits before the ARRA bill took place.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThe ARRA, also known as the stimulus bill of 2009, was a temporary set of measures intended to stimulate the economy that has reached its expiration date, Hopper said.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tHopper added the Food and Nutrition Service has and will continue to provide resources such as recipes, guides to buying on a budget and other helpful links to SNAP participants.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tRegardless, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, expressed concern about the effects of the cut, as well as more potential SNAP reductions in the future.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cRight here in Wisconsin, this reduction will impact over 800,000 individuals who receive FoodShare,\u201d Moore said. \u201cA caseload that includes mostly children, the elderly and those with disabilities.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tThis loss of benefits is essentially taking away 21 meals per month for a family of four, Moore said. She added food pantries may face an increase in clientele because of the large number of families affected by the reduction.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tMoore added any additional cuts, like those anticipated during the finishing of the new farm bill, would cause even more problems.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tU.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, addressed the issue in a statement Friday.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThese types of cuts, just like the $40 billion food stamp cuts proposed by my House Republican colleagues, make millions of Americans more hungry while hurting our economy and further slowing our recovery,\u201d Pocan said in the statement. \u201cI urge my colleagues to join our efforts to preserve food assistance funding for those who need it most.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tBoth Moore and Pocan signed on as co-sponsors on the \u201cExtend Not Cut SNAP Benefits Act,\u201d aiming to delay the end of increased benefits. The bill was referred to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee last week.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tTamarine Cornelius, a research analyst at the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, addressed the council\u2019s efforts concerning the SNAP benefit reductions.\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThe House of Representatives has passed a bill that would result in some additional, very drastic cuts, about $40 billion over the next ten years,\u201d Cornelius said. \u201cSo the effort has been mostly on not piggybacking those additional cuts on what\u2019s already happening.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tTo view this article online, please click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://gwenmoore.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1183"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8945539593696594, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}