Mike Conaway: “I offer this amendment because serious reforms to the SNAP program are difficult because the program continues on…”

“I offer this amendment because serious reforms to the SNAP program are difficult because the program continues on autopilot even after the FARRM Bill expires. SNAP is defined as an appropriated entitlement, meaning that appropriations can continue to fund the program regardless of action taken by the Ag Committee. This amendment is about the accountability of SNAP. While SNAP funding is provided in the annual appropriations act, the level of spending for appropriated entitlements is not controlled through the annual appropriations process. Instead, the level of spending for appropriated entitlements, like other entitlements, is based on the benefits and the eligibility criteria established in law. The amount provided in the appropriations act is based on the projected level. In general, the maximum SNAP benefit is set at 100 percent of the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan. TFP is calculated each year by USDA as the lowest cost food plan and varies by household size. Benefits are further reduced by 30 percent of a qualifying family's annual income on the expectation that families contribute to their own food purchases. This amendment will simply reduce by 10 percent the Thrifty Food Plan calculation in any year that SNAP is not authorized, otherwise bringing the Agriculture Committee back into the operations.…”