The recent increase in SNAP benefits was long overdue
Food stamps may be the most effective tool we have for fighting domestic poverty.
The general dysfunction in Washington continues. The Republican minority shows little interest in the responsibilities of governance, while the Democratic majority is too thin and too fractious to attend to them alone. It’s hard enough for this Congress to fund the government’s basic functions and pay its bills, let alone enact new solutions to the multiple crises the nation faces.
In such a climate, it’s easy not to notice when some small good thing is accomplished by the federal government. Last month, the US Department of Agriculture increased the benefits available through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. SNAP is perhaps the federal program most effective at mitigating poverty across generations.
SNAP’s overall parameters are set by Congress every five years in the farm bill. What the USDA did was update its “thrifty food plan,” which details the specific grocery needs for SNAP recipients. These updates amount to an average benefits increase of 40 cents per person per meal.
