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Medicaid, food stamps likely on Trump’s chopping block
YOUNGSTOWN
An $800 billion cut to Medicaid in the Trump administration’s proposed $4.1 trillion budget could hobble Ohio’s fight against the opioid epidemic.
Reports from the Washington Post and CNN, citing individuals familiar with the plan but who have requested anonymity, indicate the administration’s budget, to be unveiled today, will propose cuts totaling $1.7 trillion, including the $800 billion reduction to Medicaid.
Currently, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has committed to spending $1 billion annually to fight the opioid epidemic and has pursued grants to help bolster the state’s efforts. Two-thirds of that $1 billion is funded through Medicaid, which is composed of both state and federal money. In Ohio, nearly 70 percent of the state’s Medicaid funding is federal.
How the governor will amend spending on the opioid epidemic in the event of the budget’s passage remains to be seen.
In the meantime, state Republicans and state Democrats have proposed plans that encourage increased spending on the crisis. State Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, a Democratic candidate for governor, is forwarding a bill that would see $200 million of the state’s $2 billion rainy-day fund used in fighting the epidemic.
State Republicans proposed a revision to the two-year state budget last month that would add $170.6 million to the state’s efforts, according to a report from the Plain Dealer of Cleveland.
Food stamps
Under Trump’s budget, the food-stamp program would lose a quarter of its funding thanks to a $193 billion cut over the next decade. The cut likely will force millions of people off the program.
The food-stamp cut has local government and industry officials worried. Robert Bush Jr., director of Mahoning County’s Department of Jobs and Family Services, said the department spends $4 million a month on the food-stamp program.
According to the Post report, the Trump plan would reduce the program’s funding by increasing the work requirements for recipients and making it harder for people to qualify for enrollment.
Bush said tightening the purse strings on food stamps not only will impact those receiving the aid, but also the industries serving the recipients.
“That money stays in the county, it goes back into the local economy,” Bush said. “It’s not just people who will be hit; it’s business as well.”
Grocers are bracing for impact, as a massive cut to food stamps also will put a strain on their sales. Kristin Mullins, president of the Ohio Grocers’ Association, said she was “quite concerned” by the expected cuts.
“SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] recipients play a large part in our total sales,” Mullins said. “Depending on which demographics we’re looking at, SNAP sales can make up anywhere between 20 percent and 75 percent of a grocer’s earnings.”
As food-stamp recipients generally live in low-income communities, a cut to their buying power – and thus a cut to their spending in the local economy – likely will exacerbate poverty in those neighborhoods.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, offered a statement Monday in anticipation of the administration’s budget.
“President Trump made bold promises to Ohioans that he’d fight for them. His budget is an opportunity to follow through on that promise. Ohio families know that making a budget is about choosing priorities, and so far Ohio families have not been this Administration’s priority,” Brown said. “We need a budget that invests in Ohio communities so they can create jobs, upgrade their infrastructure, and protect our clean water.”
military
The New York Times reported Thursday the president’s budget includes a $52 billion increase in military spending, with $19 billion toward investment in equipment – including F-35 and F/A-18 fighter jets – and a combined $6.6 billion for use toward B-21 bombers and a pair of aircraft carriers.
A portion of the increase in defense spending is intended for bolstering the troop population by 56,000, with half of those going to the Army.
other cuts
The Trump plan also calls for cuts to federal employee pensions, broader welfare benefits and farm subsidies.
A March budget summary also suggested broad cuts to environmental organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency and – closer to home – the elimination of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, offered support of the March budget summary, praising its willingness to greatly curb federal spending.
“America is over $20 trillion in debt, and I’m glad we now have a President who understands that we can’t keep spending money we don’t have. ... This budget will kick-start an important, and overdue, debate about the need and effectiveness of many federal programs,” Johnson said in a statement.
Contributor: Associated Press