Putting the poor on a diet

[Last] Wednesday morning, the House of Representatives passed the final version of the 2014 Farm Bill, which includes a cut of roughly $8.7 billion to food stamps, affecting 850,000 households across the country. Members of the House and Senate announced the deal on Monday evening, after months of negotiations over the legislation. In a joint statement, the lead negotiators stressed the bipartisan nature of the final bill, which sailed through the House by a margin of 251-166.

“This bill proves that by working across party lines we can reform programs to save taxpayer money while strengthening efforts to grow our economy,” said Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation later in the week.

Households affected by the proposed $8.7 billion cut would lose an average of $90 per month in benefits. This latest reduction comes on top of November’s so-called “Hunger Cliff,” an automatic $5 billion across-the-board cut to every food stamp recipient’s benefits. The Farm Bill cuts would specifically target what critics have referred to as the “Heat and Eat” loophole, which allows certain classes of food stamp users to receive more in benefits.

Some states would be hit more than others. New York City alone could absorb up to 25% of the cuts, spread out across 190,000 households, according to the Food Bank for New York City. The staff of New York Democratc Senator Kirsten Gillibrand confirmed to msnbc that she would not be voting for the legislation.

“Only in Washington could a final bill that doubles the already egregious cuts to hungry families while somehow not creating any additional savings than originally proposed be called progress,” she said in a statement. “This bill will result in less food on the table for children, seniors and veterans who deserve better from this Congress while corporations continue to receive guaranteed federal handouts.”

Despite resistance from some corners of the Democratic Party, the Farm Bill cruised through the House and will likely face very little resistance in the Senate. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., both voted in favor of the legislation, along with 87 other Democrats.

President Obama has largely been silent on the subject of food stamp cuts. Though the White House has previously threatened to veto the $20.5 billion cut proposed in the House, Stabenow and House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican, have both told the press that they expect the president to sign the bill including $8.7 billion in cuts.