Van Orden Backs $27 Billion Cut to Food Assistance

MADISON, Wis. — Today, Derrick Van Orden and the House Agriculture Committee meet to take up the Republican draft of the Farm Bill, legislation which makes the largest cut to SNAP food assistance in nearly 30 years. 

The House GOP’s Farm Bill draft would cut $27 billion from SNAP over the next ten years by limiting the authority of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make adjustments to the Thrifty Food Plan, the baseline calculation of a healthy diet used to set benefit levels. 

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities projects the Farm Bill’s reductions to SNAP would mean a $460 million cut to SNAP food assistance in Wisconsin.

“Derrick Van Orden’s support for a nearly $30 billion cut to food assistance is an absolute betrayal,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Joe Oslund. “More than 30,000 households in the Third District depend on SNAP food assistance, and under the Farm Bill backed by Derrick Van Orden today, every one of these households would receive less to buy groceries in future years. Derrick Van Orden promised no cuts to food assistance, and by backing this bad bill, he’s breaking his word.”