A pair of bills moving through the Legislature would make sweeping changes to how Louisiana administers key public benefits—especially the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps close to 900,000 residents afford groceries each month. A new issue brief from Invest in Louisiana’s Sissy Phleger explains why these proposals are misguided and run contrary to the role of SNAP:
The bills have the laudable goals of streamlining access to services and helping people achieve “self-sufficiency” through employment. But these bills reflect a national effort by conservative policy groups to redefine public benefits as tools to move people into the labor market, rather than programs that meet basic human needs. In practice, this restructuring would create unnecessary disruption, increase stigma, and undermine the core purpose of programs like SNAP.
Note: HB 617 by Rep. Kim Carver would restructure the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), removing its authority over programs like SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). HB 624 by Rep. Stephanie Berault would transfer these programs to the state labor department – which would be called Louisiana Works—and embed the renamed agency within a broader workforce development system.
The consequences of Medicaid cuts
Millions of Americans would lose their Medicaid health insurance coverage under proposals being considered by GOP leaders in Congress. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Congressional Budget Office. Congressional Republicans are looking for ways to reduce spending on safety-net programs as part of their bid to enact President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda in one “big, beautiful bill.” The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Mark Ballard reports:
(T)aking a machete, rather than a scalpel, to Medicaid in pursuit of large savings will end healthcare for large numbers of low-income people, said New Orleans U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democratic member of the House Energy committee that is looking for ways to cut Medicaid spending. That includes roughly a third of Louisiana’s population. “Despite their smoke-and-mirrors tactics, Republicans can’t hide the truth — this will gut essential health care to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations,” Carter said Wednesday morning after reviewing the CBO letter.
House Speaker Mike Johnson appears to be backing away from plans to require states to pay a higher share of the costs for the Medicaid expansion population, which the CBO estimated would have caused 2.4 million people to lose health insurance. But other harmful cuts are still on the table:
But some of the other options are still in play, such as limiting taxes states levy on healthcare providers to help pay the local match. That could reduce spending by $880 billion but might lead the states to oust 8.6 million people off Medicaid rolls, the CBO found. Establishing a limit on the amount of services spent on each enrollee could save the federal government about $792 billion but cause 5.8 million to leave Medicaid, the analysis said.
State officials lament loss of USDA funding
President Donald Trump recently terminated two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that paid farmers to provide fresh and minimally processed foods to schools and food banks. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Shannon Heckt reports:
Louisiana will lose out on more than $18 million from the food-buying programs over the next three years, according to federal data. State Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, authored Senate Concurrent Resolution 20 to urge Congress to put the funding back, specifically for schools.
The move will have dire economic consequences for farmers, who rely heavily on loans to finance operations, and reduce access to healthy foods for low-income families.
In a state Senate Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday, (Louisiana Agriculture Secretary Mike) Strain mentioned examples of Louisiana businesses taking a hit from the federal program cuts. Harris Cattle Co., a Ville Platte business, sells $380,000 worth of meat to nine school districts. Another farm sold $7,000 worth of okra to area schools, the agriculture commissioner said.
Federal workforce cuts target women and people of color
A new report from the National Women’s Law Center shows how women and people of color make up the majority of the workforce in many of the agencies being targeted for massive staff reductions by the Trump administration:
While women made up 46% of the total federal workforce in September 2024, they represented a substantial majority of the workforce in five Cabinet-level Departments that have now been targeted for large-scale layoffs:10 the Department of Veterans Affairs (64%), the Department of Education (63%), the Department of Health and Human Services (63%), the Department of the Treasury (61%), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (59%).
Number of the Day
28% – Percentage share of young adults who say they expect the financial situation for them and their family to be worse a year from now, up significantly from 16% in May 2024. (Source: Pew Research Center)