Food Stamps

Unemployment Benefits: In 2008, President George W. Bush introduced an amendment to the Unemployment Benefits program: unemployed workers would be able to collect benefits for more than the usual 26 weeks. At its peak in 2012, unemployed workers could collect benefits for up to 99 weeks, a number that has since been scaled back to a maximum of 76, depending on which states have the most unemployment.

Unemployed Food Stamps Users: Food stamps users tend to face a double whammy, as they’re likely to either be unemployed and in need of benefits, or employed at a job that doesn’t pay enough to foot a full monthly grocery bill. To make matters worse, the Washington Post has discovered that the long-term unemployed—unemployed for longer than 27 weeks—only have an average chance of 12% of getting a job. This means that the longer they stay unemployed, the greater the odds of staying mired in an unemployed-food stamps cycle that becomes increasingly harder to break out of.

What To Do: Unfortunately, in this case, it seems as though House Republicans and Democrats are in a deadlock. Republicans cite the program as costing $25 billion a year which can be diverted to more useful means, and Democrats haven’t had much luck getting their opponents to renew the program for another year. Even the Republicans who are sympathetic haven’t been met with enough success to reverse the expiry.

What The Future Looks Like: Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) isn’t above rolling up his sleeve and playing dirty with Republicans by holding the Farm Bill hostage. Van Hollen will say that the 2013 Farm Bill, legislation that covers farm subsidies, food stamps, and a variety of other programs, can pay for the unemployment insurance Republicans recently let expire. By doing so, his plan would only cost $1 billion, as the Senate Farm Bill would save about $24 billion over 10 years and EUC would cost $25 billion for one year.

Further, Democrats are considering joining forces to kill the Farm Bill if the Republicans don’t bend. But the last time we saw a standoff, the government shut down and thousands of employees and services were furloughed. Is that the answer this time? It’s difficult to say, but many food stamps users just want to see a change, any change, from their elected officials. And while the argument that because the recession is officially over may make sense rationally, it doesn’t hold much meaning on an emotional level. Because when there’s never enough money each month for something as basic as food, you need action now, not next year.