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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Some college students no longer qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program after pandemic exemptions expired in July, and many Democrats in Congress are pushing to use the next farm bill to address the issue.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients were overpaid at a rate of 9.84% in fiscal 2022 and underpaid by 1.7% on average as state agencies struggled with staffing coming out of the pandemic, according to USDA.
Republicans and Democrats are beginning to chart the path of how they want to address food assistance work requirements in the 2023 farm bill discussion at the same time requirements return to pre-pandemic standards in May with the end of the public health emergency.
Rep. Brad Finstad, who is leading the House Agriculture subcommittee responsible for overseeing the farm bill's nutrition assistance programs, says lawmakers must ensure they offer "people a hand up, not just a handout."