Education
About 3.1 million people would lose food stamps under an administration plan that would affect eligibility. The administration's analysis says "potentially as many as 982,000 children would no longer be directly certified for free school meals based on SNAP participation."
Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) discusses her top tech priorities toward empowering the next generation of government IT workers. Initiatives include advocating for widespread education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) plus the integration of arts — through efforts like the Congressional App Challenge.
House Democrats on Wednesday angrily questioned why the Agriculture Department took months to acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren would no longer be automatically eligible for free meals under a proposed rule aimed at cracking down on food stamp eligibility standards.
USDA posted a report late Tuesday night estimating that about 982,000 low-income students would no longer automatically qualify for free meals under the department's proposed rule to limit so-called broad-based categorical eligibility in SNAP.
Oregonians who signed up for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program are finding it's not very forgiving.
Tens of thousands of students nationwide took advantage of the government program but only about one percent have been approved to have their loans forgiven.
Bonamici said, "People across Oregon and our country took jobs in public service and planned their lives around it, only to discover it was an empty promise. It's been devastating to so many people."
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici says the current impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump may draw most of the public's attention, but the House is working on other issues affecting people's lives.
As an example, Bonamici said, a House subcommittee she leads has produced a bill (HR 4334) to extend federal spending authority under the Older Americans Act, which was originally passed in 1965.