White House OKs big permanent increase in food stamp spending

The White House is set to announce on Monday that the 42 million people who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will see a big increase in how much food they can purchase per month. The change came after Congress ordered a review in 2018 of SNAP’s nutrition assumptions and gave the Agriculture Department four years to do so.

Prior to the change, the pre-pandemic average of SNAP benefits was $121 per person per month. The revision will increase that number by $36. The Agriculture Department prompted the revisions as part of changes to the Thrifty Food Plan, which is a grouping of foods that the U.S. uses to calculate the cost of a cheap and healthy meal.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hailed the increase in food stamps, which will add an additional $20 billion to the $79 billion program, as helping to “stabilize our democracy.”

“We may have a Constitution and a Declaration of Independence, but if we had 42 million Americans who were going hungry, really hungry, they wouldn’t be happy and there would be political instability,” he told the New York Times.

The administration hiked the weekly food plan for a family of four from $159 to $193. The largest increase in food group spending was for purchasing protein. Estimated weekly spending on protein such as seafood and meat increased from $29 to $47 under the new plan, while spending on fruit decreased from $29 to $27 as part of the revisions.

Vilsack pointed out that Republicans were in control of Congress in 2018 and helped approve the review. He said that GOP lawmakers “deserve credit,” although some Republicans are saying that they did not expect spending to increase. Former GOP Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, who helped draft the plan, said it was assumed that cost-neutrality would be followed.

The SNAP program’s last review came in 2006.