Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

DeLauro facing tough fight over food stamps

  • by Ana Radelat
  • May 17, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Washington — When Jody Rodiger of Manchester volunteered to help Connecticut’s needy buy food, she never thought she would one day also depend on food stamps.

“I advocated for it for years, I knew the program inside and out. But I never thought it would be for me,” Rodiger, 50, said.

Like many who’ve recently swelled the ranks of the SNAP, as the food stamp program is now known, Rodiger is a middle-class professional. She and millions of other American victims of the recession suddenly found they could not afford food.

“It was a lifesaver,” Rodiger said of the food stamp program.

But Congress is expected to cut the SNAP program this year, although it’s not known by how much. Senate Democrats have proposed trimming the program by $4.4 billion, while House Republicans are seeking a $33 billion reduction.

The $80.6 billion spent on SNAP this year is the largest part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget.

The Congressional Budget Office determined that the House GOP’s cuts would drop 1.8 million Americans from the SNAP program, while reducing aid to millions more.

The Senate farm bill would change SNAP program rules to reduce benefits to some people who also receive energy assistance payments.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, a champion of SNAP, said she is outraged that lawmakers have targeted nutrition programs like SNAP, and left farm subsidies and other agriculture programs intact.

“I don’t care if it’s Democrats or Republicans, I’ll do battle with both,” DeLauro said.

Anti-hunger groups are also doing their part in trying to stop the cuts.

“People think of Connecticut as a rich state and what does it matter if food stamps are cut,” said Lucy Nolan, executive director of End Hunger Connecticut. “But we have a fair amount of poverty, and food pantries can’t take on any more people.”

She said the average monthly SNAP benefit for a Connecticut household is about $218. “That really isn’t that much — and (Congress) is thinking of cutting it,” Nolan said.

The prospect of a shrinking SNAP budget also worries beneficiaries such as Rodiger.

She lost her job at a nonprofit three years ago and has had plenty of other problems since then, including an auto accident that left her temporarily disabled and illnesses she said are brought on by stress, including arthritis.

Rodiger lives on $210 a month in cash assistance, $200 worth of food stamps and whatever help with the rent her family can give her.

She said she’s working on getting healthy so she can hold down a job. But for now, she said, “The extra help provided by food stamps gets me through.

“Without it I’d be having to go to pantries and shelters,” Rodiger said.

In February, nearly 200,000 Connecticut households received food stamps, double the number of households enrolled in the program in February 2006.

Some of the increase was the result of the state’s decision in 2009 to raise the SNAP income eligibility ceiling from 130 percent to 185 percent of the federal poverty level and eliminate the consideration of assets when determining if an individual qualifies for the program.

“But, certainly, the economic downturn was responsible for major increases in enrollment,” said David Dearborn, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Social Services.

DeLauro said the program is meant to grow when times are bad and shrink when they aren’t.

“That’s the way it’s always been, so why are we changing it?” DeLauro asked.

She also said SNAP cuts “would have a serious impact in Connecticut.”
“One out of every seven people in the 3rd Congressional District is food insecure,” DeLauro said. “They don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”

Like most of the budgetary issues before Congress, the fate of the SNAP program is likely to be determined in a lame duck session after November’s elections.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut’s $90M lobbying industry has a new player: former Speaker Joe Aresimowicz
by Mark Pazniokas

Former House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz is becoming a lobbyist, but a revolving-door law limits him for a year.

Spiking tax revenue will wipe out state budget deficit, analysts say
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Projected state revenues skyrocketed by $1.7 billion Friday, positioning officials to balance the next state budget without tax hikes.

Judge approves shorter sentence for convicted murderer turned prison mentor
by Kelan Lyons

The DOC could start screening Clyde Meikle in July for discharge to a halfway house.

Without vocal dissent, Senate confirms Justice Andrew McDonald
by Mark Pazniokas

The state Senate acted quickly Friday to confirm Andrew J. McDonald to a second term on the Supreme Court.

Funding to fix CT’s roads and bridges is drying up, and officials don’t have a solution
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Kasturi Pananjady

Connecticut's transportation building program is on a financial diet after a five-year ramp-up after lawmakers rejected tolls.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
by Alan Calandro

Defending President Donald Trump is not popular and I have no interest in writing this other than adherence to truth. Recognizing the truth (if we can find it, which is not always possible of course) should make us be able to come together around that and move on with a common understanding.

Opinion Securing our nuclear legacy: An open letter to President-elect Joe Biden
by Erik Assadourian

Dear President-elect Biden: As you noted in a tweet shortly after protestors stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, “Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile.” Indeed it is. And so are nation-states.

Opinion Last votes of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others
by Gary A. Franks

Finally, the election season is over. The historic elections we saw in this cycle were intriguing. The runoff elections for the U.S. Senate in Georgia put a cap on the campaign season. For many people this could be described as a COVID-19 election. I would argue that this was an election influenced by a pandemic but determined by the killing of unarmed Black people with no adequate justice for the Black community.

Opinion Not just environmental problem; Killingly plant is a great target
by Joel Gordes

In 1990, I was one of five legislators to introduce the first climate change legislation that became PA 90-219, An Act Considering Climate Change, the most popular bill of that session. Back then I considered climate change a national security issue… and I still do.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO