From Wonkblog: Why are 47 million Americans on food stamps? It’s the recession — mostly.

Charts and graphs are offered to provide background for the current debate over the program - the one House Republicans voted to cut substantively last week.

Aside from graphs - the story answers basic questions reagrding the current state of both the program and the nature of hunger in America.

Here's a look at the recent growth in the program:

House Republicans pass bill cutting food stamps

This story applies to our discussion of several items in the class including Congress, Separated Powers the Bureaucracy, and Social Welfare policy making in 2305. It also touches on federalism as we cover it in both 2305 and 2306.

- From the Washington Post: House passes GOP plan slash food stamp funding.
- From the NYT: House Republicans pass deep cuts in Food Stamps.
- From the Hill: House votes to cut food stamps by $39 billion.

The bill is H.R. 3102, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act. Click here for information on the bill from Thomas.You can also find it here - on govtrack.

We reviewed what the Constitution says about the bill making process in Section 7 of Article 1 and noticed that its says little about what happens within Congress. When we discuss the bill making process we will touch on how it has evolved over time as well as the institutions involved in the bill making process that are not mentioned in the Constitution, most notably committees and parties.

Just so you know, the bill now goes to the Senate and if approved there in the exact same language, it goes to the president for a signature. But this is not going to happen due to the dynamics between the political parties and how these exacerbate the checks and balances.

I'll post a few things below that apply this event to various topics in the class.

Some history of the farm bill and US agriculture policy

Hopefully the links below provide some context for the current controversy over the farm bill. Agriculture policy of some sort has been a major component of national public policy since the early years of the republic - manifest destiny was in many ways an effort to provide farm land for the property-less folks out east who would also help settle the new territory.

Farm policy took a new form during the Great Depression beginning with the passage of the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933, but codified in related legislation in 1938 which contained a requirement that the bill be updated every five years. It also contained a provision that allowed for the creation of a nutrition program, which would later become food stamps - then SNAP.

What this means is that the farm bill contains two separate, though related items: subsidies for farmers, and food for the poor. This has created broad support for the bill over time, but has led to the current conflict. Republicans have pushed for limits on food stamps and removing them from the farm bill while retaining the subsidies. So the farm bill can be though of in the broader context of the New Deal, and the battle against it - or at least the part that created nutrition programs.

Here are some links with further historical information:

- Wikipedia: Agriculture policy of the United States, and History of Agriculture in the United States.

- Wikipedia: United States Farm Bill. This provides a good, brief look at the history of these bills and a list of the major agriculture legislation passed since the late 19th Century.

- Infographic might provide the most efficient way to get an idea of the history of the farm bill.

- For - what seems to me to be - the most comprehensive list of farm bills and supporting information related to them dating back to 1935, click on the National Agriculture Law Center here.

- Snap to Health has FAQ's about the farm bill. 

- NPR: The Farm Bill: From Charitable Start to Prime Budget Target. This provides a good look at the impact the farm bill has on agriculture policy in the US. Click here for similar detail.

- USDA National Agriculture Library: Farm Bill.