The Week Ahead

Last week we blogged about the cuts to food assistance that will arrive this fall, absent action from Congress. Also last week, Neil Bergsman appeared on WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks to talk about taxes in Maryland. You can hear a streaming podcast of the show here. Neil's segment can be heard around the 19 minute mark.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released several reports last week, including the monthly employment numbers by state and metropolitan area for June 2013 (not seasonally adjusted). Overall, the national unemployment rate this June was 7.8 percent, which was 0.6 percentage points lower than last June. Maryland's non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in June, up from 6.9 percent in May. The Employment Situation Summary for July 2013 reported that the national unemployment rate reduced lightly by 0.8 percentage points, at 7.4 percent. Very little change occurred in most labor sectors and among most worker demographics since June.  

For the week of August 5th through the 11th:

• On Tuesday, August 6th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey at 10:00 am.
• On Wednesday, August 7th, the Workgroup on Access to Habilitative Services Benefits meets at 9:30 am at the Maryland Insurance Administration Hearing Room on the 24th Floor of St. Paul Plaza at 200 St. Paul Place in Baltimore.
• Later on Wednesday, the Vehicle Theft Prevention Council will be reviewing programs and budgetary issues for fiscal year 2014 at 10:00 am at the Loyola University Graduate Center at 8890 McGaw Road in Columbia.
• Also at 10:00 am on Wednesday, the Board of Environmental Health Specialists assembles at the Howard County Bureau of Utilities Building at 8270 Old Montgomery Road in Columbia. They may discuss/vote on proposed regulations, and a portion of the meeting may be held in closed session.
• Wednesday afternoon, the General Provisions Article Review Committee meets at 2:00 pm in room 241 of the House Office Building at 6 Bladen Street in Annapolis. They will be reviewing committee drafts.
• On Thursday, August 8th, the Maryland Health Insurance Plan Board of Directors have a board meeting at 9:00 am in Suite 630 of 1 Calvert Plaza at 201 E. Baltimore Street in Baltimore. Participants may attend in person or by conference call. For dial-in instructions, click here.

Low-Income Marylanders Face Food Assistance Cut in November

774,000 low-income people in Maryland will see a cut in their food assistance benefits this fall, when a temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is set to expire, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A new report from the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyses the impacts.

SNAP benefits will average less than $1.40 per person per meal after the cut. All of the 47 million Americans, including 22 million children, who receive SNAP, known as the Food Supplement Program (FSP) in Maryland. will experience the reductions.


To strengthen the economy and ease hardship resulting from the Great Recession, Congress approved a modest boost in benefits to SNAP recipients as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The increase expires on October 31. For a family of three, that cut will amount to $29 a month — $319 for the remaining 11 months of the fiscal year.

This small increase in Supplemental Nutrition Program benefits has helped 774,000 struggling families in Maryland stay afloat during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. For many of these families, this modest assistance is providing a lifeline to those who are struggling to find work, or are working at jobs that do not pay them enough to put food on the table.

In addition to helping to feed hungry families, SNAP is one of the fastest, most effective ways to stimulate a struggling economy.  Every $1 increase in SNAP benefits generates about $1.70 in economic activity.

The across-the-board cuts scheduled for November will reduce the program nationally by $5 billion in fiscal year 2014 alone. Cuts of that magnitude will have a significant impact on low-income families.

SNAP has never before experienced a reduction in benefits that impacts all participants, including 22 million children nationwide. Given the fact that benefits are already inadequate for many families, these cuts will be particularly painful.

On top of these across-the-board cuts to the program, the U.S. House of Representatives recently defeated legislation that would have cut $20 billion from SNAP, eliminating food assistance for nearly two million people. This would leave many families and their children without assistance to put food on the table when they need it most.

The House is considering and could vote on even deeper cuts to the program in the coming weeks.

The Supplemental Nutrition Program has been a powerful tool in helping to keep families out of poverty. The majority of recipients who are able to work, do so. And for those who can’t or are temporarily unable to find a job, SNAP has helped to give them a leg up. Now is not the time to further reduce this already modest assistance to these struggling families.


In Maryland, the benefit cut through October 2014 will total $82 million, slowing economic growth by reducing overall consumption. Nationally, the cut will total roughly $5 billion in federal fiscal year 2014 and an additional $6 billion across fiscal years 2015 and 2016.

More information about Maryland’s SNAP program is here. Maryland Hunger Solutions also provides a wealth of information about food insecurity in our state, and the successful programs that are fighting hunger.

Farm Bill advances in the Senate

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Maryland may not come first to mind when Americans think of farms, but with 12,800 farms and over 2 million acres of farmland, agriculture is a major industry in the Free State. According to the New York Times, over $89 million of taxpayer support went to the $2 billion sector in 2012, making agriculture was the state's most heavily subsidized industry. The vast majority of that aid came from federal programs delivered via legislation popularly known as "the farm bill."

However, this law substantively deals more with nutrition assistance for the nation's low-income families than it provides in direct subsidies to agriculture, and it is in the former category where the legislature seeks the most spending cuts.

The Senate passed its version of the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 last week, which received votes of support from both Maryland Senators Cardin and Mikulski. This 1,150 page omnibus bill seeks to replace the farm legislation that expired in 2012 and if passed by the House will qualify and authorize spending for the nation’s major food and agriculture-related programs. These include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP—AKA food stamps), the Emergency Food Assistance Program, Federal Corp Insurance, the Conservation Reserve Program, Community Food Project grants, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, support programs for commodities, and many others.

Source: Washington Post

Highlights from the Senate bill:

SNAP: Funding for food stamps will decrease by $4.1 billion over the next decade. Also, an amendment from Senator David Vitter (R-LA) permanently disqualifies anyone ever convicted of violent crime from ever receiving SNAP benefits.

Direct Payments to Farmers: The bill immediately eliminates these $5 billion of annual automatic subsidies to farmers that supported specific categories of crops, regardless of harvest yields or market prices. 

Crop Insurance: Support for federal crop insurance increases by 5 percent. The bill reduces subsidies for farms with adjusted gross income over $750,000 from 60 percent support to 15 percent.

Conservation Programs: Spending is cut by $5 billion by consolidating the current 23 conservation initiatives into 13 programs and by reducing the maximum eligible acreage.

According to data analyzed by the Environmental Working Group, Maryland farmers received $25.5 million last year in crop insurance premium subsidies and claimed $27.7 million in indemnities under the insurance program. Over $19 million in commodities support went to state farmers, as did nearly $11 million in conservation program payments and about $3.7 million in disaster relief aid.

Few of the agriculture provision of the Senate bill are politically controversial on the Hill. However, the SNAP provision in the Senate bill may come under fire when the act is considered for approval in the House. That chamber passed its own bill in May that cut the nutrition support program for low-income Americans by a far more aggressive $20.5 billion. The House bill also removes the categorical eligibility feature of the program, which according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) permitted states to extend SNAP benefits to households (mainly comprised of low-wage workers and the elderly) that have greater gross incomes/assets than allowed under the program but whose disposable incomes put them below the poverty line. This dispute between the House and Senate over food stamps killed the farm bill resolution process last year.

The number of Marylanders depending on SNAP for nutritional support has grown greatly over the recession, more than doubling according to figures from the Department of Agriculture. Currently, over 12 percent of state residents rely on the program for food, and the proportion continues rising. Pew reports that the average Marylander participant in the program received between $115 and $130 per month in food assistance last year. 

Recent USDA data shows that one in eight Maryland households struggle with hunger. Cuts to SNAP will only drive this figure upward, further increasing food insecurity in the state.

Hunger solutions in Annapolis and Washington

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On Thursday, March 21, Maryland Hunger Solutions hosted a legislative breakfast to discuss food policy in Maryland. In addition to eating breakfast, there are other things we should do to fight hunger.

In spite of Maryland's overall wealth, hunger, homelessness and poverty remain problems here. One in 10 people are poor. Based on official USDA statistics, one in 8 Maryland households cannot afford adequate food at some point during the year (up from one in 12 just a few years ago). 50,000 Marylanders are homeless at some point each year.

In our budgeting and public policy, Maryland’s leaders have done a lot to improve these things. They have respected the social safety net while implementing a balanced approach to balancing the budget. They expanded Medicaid and moved forward to implement the Affordable Care Act and state health exchange. They are moving forward on a five-year program to provide in-class breakfasts at all eligible schools.

The situation in most other states around the country is actually much worse – both in terms of the rates of hunger, poverty and homelessness, and the commitment of the political leadership. Still, in the wealthiest state in America, we can and should do better.

On the federal level, things have gone haywire. The forces of greed and fear are telling us that people should not feel “entitled” to food, shelter, and medical care. These things ought to be efficiently allocated by market forces on the basis of ability to pay. The savings should be used to reduce taxes on investment earnings and corporate profits, according to some.

Our national leaders DO need to reform the nation’s finances to bring down the long-term budget deficit. We should support a “Grand Bargain” to accomplish these goals. But not everything should be on the table. Cuts to “Domestic Discretionary Expenditures” that affect Food Stamps, WIC, school meals, and other vital safety net food programs must not be negotiable. Cutting food for the hungry should not be part of a partisan political deal.

Our jobs as advocates include:

1. Thank Governor O’Malley and our legislators for preserving and enhancing key food and health efforts here in Maryland.
2. Advocate for structural solutions to hunger and poverty to prevent problems in the future. Things like minimum wage and paid sick day policies really are hunger solutions. Ultimately, so are funding for public schools and promoting access to higher education and job skill training.
3. Tell our representatives in Congress to protect food, housing and healthcare for low-income Americans as they come to a sane agreement to reduce future deficits.

Serving MD’s Children: Support Meals for Achievement

Today we have another guest blog, this time from Lisa Klingenmeier at Maryland Hunger Solutions.

Even as the national economy slowly improves, many Maryland families still struggle to make ends meet. Maryland has the highest median household income in the country, yet statewide 14.8 percent of households had difficulty affording enough food to feed their family during the first 6 months of 2012. From December of 2011 to December of 2012, every county in Maryland had an increase in enrollment in the Food Supplement Program (known nationally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and formerly known as Food Stamps). At the same time, the USDA estimates that food costs will rise between 3 and 4 percent in 2013.  Reliable sources of healthy meals, through programs like the School Breakfast Program, are more important than ever.

Photo taken at Meade Middle School, an MMFA School

Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) allows participating schools to provide breakfast free to all students in the classroom, thereby increasing breakfast participation, while reducing stigma and other barriers to participation.  The program addresses the hunger and nutritional needs of students in schools where at least 40 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. The benefits of MMFA are clear – higher school breakfast participation has a positive impact on the educational performance, health, and behavior of Maryland’s children.

Unfortunately, during the 2012-2013 school year, only 271 schools of the 813 schools that are eligible for MMFA are actually participating because of budget limitations. As more families are struggling to make ends meet and put adequate food on their table, it is essential that eligible schools receive the resources they need to provide free school breakfast to all of their students through the MMFA program.

In his FY2014 budget proposal, Governor Martin O’Malley included an additional $1.8 million dollars in the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) – Aid to Education budget for MMFA, which would provide in-classroom breakfast to 57,000 more vulnerable children.

Maryland Meals for Achievement is only part of a statewide investment by community partners to help combat childhood hunger, but it is an important, proven, and cost-effective one.  As many Maryland families continue to struggle with food insecurity, Maryland Hunger Solutions and MBTPI strongly support MSDE’s Aid to Education budget as set by the Administration, including the additional funding for the Maryland Meals for Achievement program.