House Speaker John Boehner wants the House to
find ways to stop states from "cheating" by following the letter of the law to block food stamp cuts. But what are House Republicans actually
doing about it?
Not much, it seems:
Asked for specifics on a legislative response, aides said only that the relevant committees — Agriculture, Appropriations and Energy and Commerce — would conduct oversight and continue to monitor the implementation of the law.
“It is premature to discuss specifics, but the committee will continue to be aggressive with its oversight and legislative agenda as it relates to SNAP,” an agriculture committee aide said. “This will include a review of LIHEAP, work pilot, and the other reforms in the farm bill. Where possible, we will coordinate our efforts with other committees as they review these issues, as well.”
Sooo ... nothing. Oversight, monitoring implementation, review, coordinating efforts, more review. It's never a good idea to underestimate the Republican drive to hurt poor people, so the fact that they haven't yet geared up the evil-doing machine to address this issue isn't any kind of guarantee that they won't. But for now, it appears that states blocking food stamp cuts by increasing their minimum home energy assistance benefits is an issue important enough for John Boehner to rail against at a press conference, but not important enough for his party to try to stop.