The Senate plans to cut the food-stamp program by ending stimulus-established increases early to help pay for Medicaid assistance for states and aid to save teachers' jobs, but part of the savings from the food-stamp program will also possibly help pay for the Childhood Nutrition Act championed by Sen. Blanche Lincoln. The Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization Act would do a lot of noteworthy things, including increase funding so that schools can buy healthier foods for school lunches, remove paperwork that prevents eligible kids from enrolling in free lunch programs, and expand after-school and summer food programs. Because of paygo rules, the Senate Agriculture Committee had looked to offset the cost of the nutrition bill by cutting a popular farm conservation program, a move Sen. Saxby Chambliss protested. Lincoln had been looking for alternatives, and since the food-stamp program seems generally up for grabs, $2 billion in savings from ending the food-stamp programs could go toward paying for it.
Cutting food aid for families who need it to pay for food for children who need it seems monumentally stupid. The arguments for increasing the nutritional value and availability of lunch through schools is a valid one, but part of it rests on the idea that families are often unable to provide food at home. Making it even harder to provide food at home would just increase the need. It's still unclear what will happen before the Senate goes into recess after this week, but either way some of the business will wait until September. If the Senate, in its haste, agrees to pay for food programs by cutting food programs, there might be time to rectify it in September.
-- Monica Potts