Food stamps in America Essays

Food stamps in America Essays Food stamps in America Essay Food stamps in America Essay A Argument if Food Stamps are Good or Bad For the Economy Ever inquire how America finances is the manner it is today? Over clip there have been a batch of things that play in the up and down falls of America fundss. America is centered on its budget and how it uses its budget. In this paper, it will be foregrounding the effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP, 2014 ) . This paper will be touching on the history of SNAP, the importance and effects of the plan, and the argument that is hording over the plan. Food Stamp Program Background The first thought of the nutrient cast plan before it got its name Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP ) was thought of chiefly by Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace and the program’s foremost Administrator Milo Perkins on May 16, 1939. The thought of the plan was to let citizens to purchase what is known as orange casts that were equal to their normal nutrient disbursals. For illustration, for every 1 $ worth of orange casts that were bought, it would be 50 cents deserving of bluish casts that were received ( SNAP, 2014 ) . The regulations for the nutrient cast plan is orangish casts were for any nutrient but bluish casts were merely for nutrients that were approved by the Department to be excess. Over the old ages up to 1943, there were about 4 million people, at the clip, who was in the plan which lead to a entire cost of $ 262 million. The first to really utilize the casts was a lady by the name Mabel McFiggin in Rochester, New York and the first retail me rchant to roll up the casts was Joseph Mutolo. In every plan, it has to be person to go against some type of regulation ; in this instance it was a adult male by the name Nick Salzano in October 1939 ( SNAP, 2014 ) . : The plan came to an terminal shortly after that because the grounds that brought the plan to visible radiation were no longer an issue such as unmerchantable nutrient excesss and the rate of unemployment. The plan was brought back in May 29 1961 for merely three old ages ( SNAP, 2014 ) . It was under the name pilot nutrient cast plan on February 2, 1961 under President Kennedy to spread out the nutrient distribution. During that clip, Isabelle Kelley became the first adult female in United States Department of Agriculture to go a caput of an action plan and besides been the plan foremost manager ( SNAP, 2014 ) . In 1977, The Food Stamp Act was implied to assist those in demand by altering the disposal of the plan with a tighter control over it. Over the old ages since so, the plan has had many alterations to it. It had some cutbacks around 1981 to 1982, on September 19, 1988 cast was put on an machine-controlled card known as Electronic Benefit Transfer ( EBT ) and so there was the r eauthorization of the Food Stamp Program in 2002 and 2008 ( SNAP, 2014 ) . Issues and Importance Now, SNAP is the 2nd largest aid plan behind Medicaid. The new issues that are environing the plan are these who qualify to utilize the plan. Since the recession, the figure of people acquiring aid went up by the terminal of 2013 to about 47.6 million but in the 2014 it dropped to 46.7 million ( Mitchell, A, 2014 ) . The job is there are a batch of citizen who don’t need the aid that are on the plan. This is doing revenue enhancement remunerators to pay more to lend to equilibrating out the budget. SNAP is raking up an $ 80 billion measure that the taxpayers are paying ( Sheffield A ; Gaiser, 2013 ) . SNAP might assist those in demand but it’s non supposed to be a lasting hole, but a temporally fix. There are citizens who don’t need SNAP any longer or they neer needed it in the first topographic point, but are mistreating the plan. This is taking to the authorities desiring to cut back on people having SNAP in 2015. The issue is of import to public disposal because one of its subdivisions public fiscal disposals occupation is to seek over activities of finance and over revenue enhancements. With SNAP bing more, the public fiscal disposal has to raise the revenue enhancements to assist with the support. Some people say that SNAP has weakened the economic system because of this. Evidence Supporting Food Stamps SNAP has helped many low income households in many ways. It was really effectual and efficient in the clip of demand. Some of the major benefits of SNAP are the ability to react efficaciously to the recession, the recent of disbursement is impermanent ; its ability to make a high portion of people who are eligible, and payments truth is at all-time highs ( Rosenbaum, 2013 ) . SNAP caseloads increased significantly during the recession between 2007 and 2011. The Congressional Budget Office ( CBO ) has confirmed that the primary ground for the addition in the figure of participants was the deep recession and subsequent slow recovery ; there were no important legislative enlargements of eligibility ( Rosenbaum, 2013 ) . There are two grounds why the instance burden grew. The first one being more families are measure uping for the plan and enrolling. The 2nd one consists of larger portions of eligible families that are subscribing up for the plan. Long term unemployment has played a major function in the addition. Unemployed workers who has been out of work for more than half a twelvemonth, normally seeks aid from SNAP. During and after the recession, SNAP delivered about $ 35 billion in extra benefits under the Recovery Act. Congress enacted this proviso as a fast and effectual economic stimulation step to assist force against the lifting tide of adversity for low income Americans ( Rosenbaum, 2013 ) . Since the recession hit, SNAP disbursement has risen, but the additions are to be impermanent. CBO predicts that SNAP registration will fall in approaching old ages as the economic system recovers. As the low income population grows and nutrient monetary values addition, SNAP costs are expected to lift to back up the growing. Eligibility alterations have non played a big function in SNAP growing. Policymakers has thought that the alterations in SNAP would do more people qualify such as higher income families. A province option known as broad-based categorical eligibility allows provinces to widen SNAP eligibility to certain low income families whose gross income is above 130 per centum of poorness or who have modest assets ( Rosenbaum, 2013 ) . CBO tried to revoke the province option, but the provinces use of the option histories for approximately two per centum of SNAP plan costs. During and after the recession, some unemployed childless grownups became eligible under longstanding authorization for the provinces to relinquish the clip bound during periods of high unemployment, which would usually confront a three month clip bound on SNAP benefits. Each twelvemonth, the provinces pull together a sample and reexamine the truth of their eligibility and benefit determinations. Federal functionaries take a subsample of the instances to re-review the guarantee truth in the mistake rates. States are capable to financial punishments if their mistake rates are persistently higher than the national norm ( Rosenbaum, 2013 ) . When provinces had a combined mistake rate below six per centum they qualified for a bonus payment or enhanced support in acknowledgment of their public presentation under the 2002 Farm Bill. Traveling on eight old ages the national mistake rate has exceeded this criterion. SNAP has succeeded in supplying seasonably nutrient aid to eligible low income families while keeping strong plan unity and payment truth ( Rosenbaum, 2013 ) . In all instances there is room for betterment in making eligible families. The provinces and USDA are seeking to happen ways to develop policies and processs that will beef up plan unity without doing it harder for eligible families to take part. Reform Food Stamps Curate suggests that Congress should transform the plan from one that rewards dependance into 1 that encourages work and autonomy. Some ways might be to set a cap on future nutrient cast disbursement and alter the duty from the Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) to the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) , make registrations tighter to shut some of expensive spreads and cut down fraud if at all possible and prohibit illegal immigrant households from acquiring nutrient casts payments. Besides with a work activation plan and necessitate drug proving to have nutrient casts. To carry through these thoughts Congress should return nutrient casts back to pre-recession degrees and cap future disbursement. State authoritiess receive additions in nutrient cast support when they increase the figure of receivers. This encourages disbursement and unneeded dependance on authorities assistance. Transfer control over nutrient casts from the USDA to HHS. The nutrient cast plan is non an agricultural plan, but a means to prove the public assistance plan. The USDA viewed nutrient casts as a manner to spread out farmers’ income by advancing increased nutrient purchases. This is an inefficient policy to supply income to husbandmans ; for each $ 1.00 authorities spends on nutrient casts, husbandmans receive about three cents in added income ( Rector, 2012 ) . Congress needs to extinguish application loopholes that permit receivers to short-circuit income and plus trial. The Obama Administration has upheld admittance processs that enable appliers to short-circuit ordinary income and assets trials for eligibility. A individual family may be eligible for several public assistance plans. Receipt of assistance from one plan may give categorical eligibility for another to avoid duplicative administrative costs. Persons with more than $ 2,000 in liquid assets could non have aid ; families were expected to utilize their ain assets to back up themselves before turning to taxpayer funded public assistance ( Rector, 2012 ) . By geting more timely and accurate information about recipient net incomes, improper benefit overpayments should be cut downing. When information is collected right grosss should non be able to make improper filing. Food stamps benefits should diminish as monthly net incomes addition. State bureaucratisms should be able to take their clip to traverse look into the National Directory of New Hires to observe grounds of new employment. Illegal immigrants who have kids born in the United States routinely receive nutrient casts ( Rector, 2012 ) . The public assistance office will detect that the immigrant is illegal, but will make nil to describe it. Even though the benefits are supposed to travel towards the kid it is used to buy nutrient for the full family. Parents should supply a valid Social Security figure demoing that they live in the United States lawfully and that they are wilily and able to work. Able nutrient cast receivers should be required to work, fix for work, or at least expression for a occupation as a status of having assistance ( Rector, 2012 ) . Most families have grownups who are capable of working but work little or non at all. A work activation plan will do both the caseload and the figure of new registrations to drop quickly. Recipients should be required to take a drug trial before having nutrient casts. By holding receivers tested for drugs would cut down uneconomical authorities disbursement. Besides, by halting drug usage among receivers will interchangeability increase their hereafter for employment chances? As a taxpayer, financess should non be used to back up persons who abuse illicit drugs. Evidence shows that drug testing has the possible to significantly cut down unneeded public assistance disbursement and abuse of financess ( Rector, 2012 ) . Food casts remain a plan that discourages work, wagess idling, and promotes long term dependance. The thoughts that Rector was seeking to do is that Congress demands to make something to better the distribution of nutrient casts. Too many grosss are acquiring off with fraud. There should be so more conditions to be approved like working or drug testing. An Appraisal of the Arguments SNAP serves a critical function in bettering the wellness and wellbeing of families by increasing nutrient security ( Ohls, 2015 ) . There are some benefits that SNAP does to assist low income households. During the recession may household qualified for nutrient casts. Most household members lost occupations and needed the aid to acquire by. After the recession, money disbursement on nutrient casts should diminish, but people who get the benefits most likely non even seek to acquire a occupation. The eligibility to acquire nutrient casts has non change. More families are merely eligible because the unemployment rate went up. Immigrants should hold the chance to have nutrient casts for themselves and their childs. There should be a manner for immigrants to acquire citizenship in this state without a fuss. In my sentiment a batch of people depend on nutrient casts excessively much. They will work a small or non at all to assist themselves. I think the thought to hold a work activation plan is a great thought. To give able bodied people a opportunity to make for them for one time. Family members should work a certain sum of hours to have nutrient casts if able. Giving a drug trial is a great thought besides. Drug proving will restrict taxpayers money being spent and could increase family to be eligible for a occupation in the hereafter. Social workers should take their clip and truly look to see if the recipient net incomes information is right. I have personally known people who would lie about working some topographic point or restrict their hours to have the benefits. There is a batch of fraud when it comes to nutrient casts. Many families receive excessively many nutrient casts that they sell to the following individual to acquire hard currency. Possibly there could be a manner to administer nutrient casts in a more accurate manner. Does SNAP better your wellness? There was a survey done to analyze the consequence of SNAP on wellness rather by and large, analyzing self-assessed wellness ( SAH ) , healthy clip, and basic wellness use steps as results ( Gregory, 2015 ) . Their findings show that there was a positive consequence on SAH whi ch increased the demonstrability of really good wellness. They besides found that SNAP participants spend about three to fewer yearss in bed due to illness each twelvemonth ( Gregory, 2015 ) . I would necessitate to see how they gather this information because most receivers grab small to no healthy points out the food market shop. Decision In decision, I think both statements complement each other. You can’t have one side without the other. There are some great benefits to the plan, but in everything there are besides some negatives. Overall, SNAP provides nutrition aid benefits to low income households in an attempt to cut down hungriness and better wellness and wellbeing ( Ohls, 2015 ) . Now if nutrient casts aid with the wellness issue I don’t see. Most would state healthier nutrient is more expensive than the other. My recommendation is to happen a manner to lock down on how receivers measure up for nutrient casts and on how much nutrient cast to really give each family. If able, each receiver should hold some type of independency to measure up. Mentions Gregory, Christian. , A ; Deb, Rartha. ( 2015, January ) . Does SNAP better your wellness? Retrieved February 18, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //eds.a.ebscohost.com.spot.lib.edu Mitchell, A. ( 2014, May 15 ) . Food Stamp Cuts: Good for U.S. Budget, Bad For Families and Business. Retrieved February 2, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //wallstcheatsheet.com/politics/food-stamp-cuts-good-for-u-s-budget-bad-for-families-and-business.html/ ? a=viewall Ohls, Jim. , A ; Mabli, James. ( 2015, February ) . Auxiliary Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Is Associated with an Addition in Household Food Security in a National Evaluation. Retrieved February 18, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //eds.a.ebscohost.com.spot.lib.edu Rector, R. , A ; Bradley, K. ( 2012, July 25 ) . Reforming the Food Stamp Program. Retrieved February 7, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/07/reforming-the-food-stamp-program Rosenbaum, D. ( 2013, March 11 ) . Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved February 1, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cbpp.org/cms/ ? fa=view A ; id=3239 Sheffield, R. , A ; Gaiser, T. ( 2013, June 3 ) . Food Stamps Do nt Stimulate Economic Growth. Retrieved February 1, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //dailysignal.com/2013/06/03/food-stamps-dont-stimulate-economic-growth/ Auxiliary Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP ) . ( 2014, November 20 ) . Retrieved February 1, 2015. From hypertext transfer protocol: //www.fns.usda.gov/snap/short-history-snap