Lucas faces food stamp challenges
July 17, 2013 | 04:37 PM
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said today that he faces real challenges in trying to write a nutrition bill that can garner 218 Republican votes to pass.
In an interview with KKBS Radio in Guyon, Okla., Lucas noted that the nutrition title that passed the House Agriculture Committee would already save $12 billion by eliminating categorical eligibility, another $8 billion through a provision that would require states in the Northeast to put 20 times as much as they currently do under what is called “heat and eat.” It would also stop USDA from advertising food stamps in the United States or outside and from hiring recruiters to promote their use.
On top of that, amendments would give the states the authority to require people to work, to require drug tests and to refuse food stamps to convicted felons, he noted.
“It was a pretty tough reform package," Lucas said, although he acknowledged he had been unable to get enough Republicans to support it.
Liberals, he said, do not want any changes to food stamps, particularly in the context of a nutrition-only bill.
“What do I do to persuade 218 of my colleagues to pass a stand-alone bill? Lucas said. “I’m going to try. I gave my word.”
Ultimately, Lucas said, the Senate and the House have to work out the differences. “We have to have a farm bill.”
In an interview with KKBS Radio in Guyon, Okla., Lucas noted that the nutrition title that passed the House Agriculture Committee would already save $12 billion by eliminating categorical eligibility, another $8 billion through a provision that would require states in the Northeast to put 20 times as much as they currently do under what is called “heat and eat.” It would also stop USDA from advertising food stamps in the United States or outside and from hiring recruiters to promote their use.
On top of that, amendments would give the states the authority to require people to work, to require drug tests and to refuse food stamps to convicted felons, he noted.
“It was a pretty tough reform package," Lucas said, although he acknowledged he had been unable to get enough Republicans to support it.
Liberals, he said, do not want any changes to food stamps, particularly in the context of a nutrition-only bill.
“What do I do to persuade 218 of my colleagues to pass a stand-alone bill? Lucas said. “I’m going to try. I gave my word.”
Ultimately, Lucas said, the Senate and the House have to work out the differences. “We have to have a farm bill.”
