Policy watch - The food stamp program and welfare reform.

Major changes have been proposed for the Food Stamp Program, including replacing the program with block grants to the states, cashing out the benefits, and reducing program funding from baseline levels. This paper will explore the impacts of food stamp reform on food spending, income support, welfare reform, agriculture, and the rest of the economy. A comprehensive set of scenarios is used to examine the potential economic consequences. The analysis shows that the effect of cashing out the Food Stamp Program can be as much as four times larger than the effects of program reduction alone.