Trump Takes a Big Bite Out Of His Voters' Food Stamps [View all]
Trump Takes a Big Bite Out Of His Voters' Food Stamps
7 of the 10 states who most rely on SNAP voted for Trump.
Jenny LunaMay 23, 2017 6:00 AM
President Donald Trump is expected to unveil his 2018 budget today, with $1.7 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years to government programs such as Medicaid, farm subsidies, affordable housing, and other anti-poverty programs.
As the Associated Press reported, the budget is expected to include $193 billion in cuts over a decade to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps—25 percent of the program's budget. About 44 million people benefit from food stamps in the US, especially poorer states in the Southeast. For example, one out of every five people in Louisiana receives food stamps in a given month, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Trump's proposed cuts to food stamps will by and large hit his own voters the hardest. Louisiana voted overwhelmingly for Trump, as did its Southeast counterparts Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and Georgia. Out of the ten states with the highest food stamp-use by population, seven voted Republican in last year's presidential election (see more details in the list below).
Other supplemental nutrition programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will receive cuts, according to a budget leaked by centrist think tank Third Way. The program received $6.35 billion in 2017 and will receive $5.15 billion in 2018.
Seven of the 10 states that used food stamps the most in 2016 also favored Trump in the election:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/these-maps-show-red-states-will-be-most-affected-cuts-food-stamps
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