(PatriotNewsDaily.com) – The Biden administration’s Department of Agriculture published in 2021 the new nutritional standards set for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often referred to as food stamps. The program helps those in low-income households buy food. The administration is now looking to possibly increase the benefits received by food stamp users in order to accommodate for at least 15 percent in grocery prices.
Currently, the number of people in a household is used to calculate what the maximum possible SNAP benefits will be. The Thrifty Food Plan, a list of foods that the Department of Agriculture has determined are important for a nutritious diet, is also considered when deciding the benefits.
The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a government watchdog, has determined that the administration’s DOA has bypassed Congress in order to expand the program by an average of 27 percent. As a result, the program spending has more than doubled since 2019 when the cost was $4.5 billion. In 2022 the FGA study noted that the spending required for food stamp benefits had reached $11 billion.
Over 2023 there has been a 5.8 percent increase in food prices on average.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has argued that this expansion of the program would mean that over the next decade, taxpayers would be made to pay over $1 trillion in order for the increase in food stamps to be accommodated. The increase in benefits is necessary because of the high inflation prices, the increase in grocery costs, and the stagnation of wages.
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