Cuts to Federal Food Stamp Program Will Have Devastating Local I - FOX44 - Burlington / Plattsburgh News, Weather & Sports

Angela Smith Dieng, Advocacy Manager for the Program, has seen what Vermont's Food Stamp Program known as 3-Squares Vermont can Accomplish.

Deing said that the program is doing its job and it's responding to that need.
 
The program helps one out of every 6 people in Vermont to feed their families. She says the federally funded program, which helps almost 97,000 Vermonters, is under the microscope for the wrong reasons.

"Because it has seen such an increase over the past few years, increased participation has come at an increased cost to the federal government so it looks like something is going on here, " Angela Smith Dieng said.

A House Republican plan would slash the federal program by 11%, which would cost Vermont about $15 million a year. That sounds a lot worse when you consider that the average monthly benefit in Vermont, before any cuts, is only $125 a month.

Deing said that any cuts to the program will cost all of us.

"We'll see a larger cost to society down the road," Deing said. "Healthcare costs will increase, education costs will increase, we know that will happen."

Cuts to the federal program would mean fewer people would receive benefits and it would be a lot harder to qualify. Proposed cuts are far from a done deal, but they are being considered.