2008 Farm Bill Nutrition Title

Resource

Nutrition Title fact sheet (pdf) from the House Committee on Agriculture.

The 2002 Farm Bill’s nutrition title reauthorized the Food Stamp Program for five years, restored food stamp eligibility for many legal immigrants, and made other program improvements. Changes in the Nutrition Title of the 2008 Farm Bill help the tens of millions of people in this country who are struggling against hunger and trying to stretch limited budgets to buy healthy food. Some of the 2008 changes:

  • Increased the $10 minimum monthly benefit (unchanged for 30 years) to $14, and index it for inflation;
  • Increased and index the standard deduction for households of three or fewer;
  • Removed the cap on the deductible amount of child care expenses in eligible households;
  • Indexed the food stamp household asset limits ($2,000; $3,000 for households with elderly or disabled), which have gone unchanged for decades; and
  • Allowed more families to save without penalty by excluding education savings and tax-preferred retirement accounts from food stamp asset limits.
  • Increased TEFAP funding and thereby strengthen the nation’s emergency food network’s ability to serve those in special circumstances.

The House passed the Farm Bill by an overwhelming margin of 318 to 106 in mid-May, 2008. A few days later, the Senate passed the Farm Bill Conference Report in an 81 to 15 vote. A few days later, President Bush vetoed the legislation. More than 1,000 national, state and local organizations signed a letter urging Members of Congress to override the President’s veto. On the May 21st the House voted to override the veto, 316 to 108; important impetus for this vote came from the Bill’s nutrition title, which made vital and long-overdue improvements to the SNAP/Food Stamp Program. On May 22, the Senate voted 82 to 13 to override the veto.