House SNAP Report: No Gutting Needed, But Changes Recommended

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The House Agriculture Committee’s long-awaited report on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program released Wednesday includes several “areas in need of improvement,” but no suggestions of “gutting” the program. House Agriculture Chairman, Texas Republican Mike Conaway, told Politico the report highlights responses to the committee on how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP “can more effectively fulfill its mission.” The Wall Street Journal says the report called for an end to rules that discourage people from finding better-paid work and a reconsideration of banning sugary items including soda. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says sweetened beverages were the second-most common food-stamp purchase at an unidentified leading grocery chain in 2011. SNAP has expanded more than threefold from prerecession levels, to $74 billion last year, even as unemployment has fallen. More than 45 million people received food stamps last year, an average of $126 a month. The report was released to help guide 2018 Farm Bill discussion in Congress.