House Votes To Cut Food Stamps Program

President Obama says if it comes to his desk, he'll veto a plan to cut billions of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The bill, which passed in the House of Representatives on a largely party line vote, would cut or reduce food stamps for an estimated 3.8 million people next year. One in seven Americans use the program and the cost of the program has more than doubled since 2008.

The proposal would allow states to enact work requirements, drug testing and time limits on people receiving food stamps.

Richard Gordon, SNAP outreach coordinator for the Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis, Indiana, tells Here & Now that the face of poverty these days is different than a decade ago.

Gordon says the people he serves now are working poor who have jobs or may have fallen on hard times. He thinks cuts in the food stamp program would be "really difficult for families."