May 4, 2018. A small group of citizens protested outside U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s downtown office Thursday to urge her not to vote on the upcoming Farm Bill, which contains $20 billion in cuts in the SNAP program.
Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, carried a sign that read, “SNAP Out of it Elise. Don’t Cut Food Stamps 4 Families.” SNAP refers to the formal name of the food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Deutsch, whose organization defines itself as a nonpartisan research and education organization that works to improve economic and social conditions for New York state residents, said the proposed cuts would affect nearly 40,000 households in the NY-21 Congressional District. About 9 percent of families are living in poverty.
“She’s going to do a lot of harm to a lot of people in this district,” she said.
In addition, Deutsch said the proposed legislation imposes onerous work requirements.“If you fail to meet your work requirements, you’re cut from food stamps for one year,” he said.
That increases to three years on a second offense, he added. The cuts would also affect the approximately 750 food retailers in the district that accept SNAP benefits, according to Deutsch.
Here is a link to the Post Star.