VICTORY: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick increases food-stamps allowance

Last month, President Obama signed a new “farm bill” that cuts food stamp funding by about $800 million per year. These heartless cuts – which Republicans forced through in Congress – slash $90 in food stamp benefits per month from 850,000 families nationwide.

Fortunately, a bipartisan group of governors in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut found a way to reverse these devastating cuts by participating in a special “heat and eat” program, which would leverage heating assistance payments into higher food stamp benefits. By slightly increasing state funding for heating assistance to residents slated to lose part of their food stamp benefits, these governors have completely stopped the Republican food stamp cut from affecting residents in their states.

After almost 4,000 signatures, on Tuesday March 18, Massachusetts became the 8th state to announce that it would leverage heating assistance funding to stop food stamp cuts from affecting its citizens.