The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to cut $40 billion from the SNAP program, or food stamp program. In July, the House voted for a farm bill that separated the SNAP program funding from the larger farm bill.
Democrats, including Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel), decried the move made last week in the House.
“With this vote, House Republicans led by the far right, Tea Party wing of their part, have once again declared war on our nation’s most vulnerable,” Farr said in a statement.
San Benito County has a population of over 56,000 people, based upon 2011 Census figures. About 9 percent of residents in the county use the SNAP program – or more than 6,000 people. California’s name for the SNAP program is CalFresh.
No estimates exist at the moment to decide how many SNAP participants in the county might be affected by the proposed change, but the cut would affect nearly 2 million recipients nationwide, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis.
