skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Who Fills Post-Thanksgiving Plates in Pennsylvania?

play audio
Play

Friday, November 29, 2013   

PITTSBURGH – Now that the Thanksgiving spread has been cleared in homes and soup kitchens around the state, what's next for Pennsylvanians who face food insecurity on a daily basis?

The concern now runs deeper in the wake of this month's reductions in food stamp or SNAP benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Ken Regal is executive director of Just Harvest, a group dedicated to fighting hunger in and around Pittsburgh.

"It's easy for us to be mindful about our neighbors' lack of food at the holidays,” he says. “But these cuts are going to be true in December, in January, in February, in March, and on and on."

Regal notes it's a critical time for SNAP. The Congressional Conference Committee is weighing relatively modest cuts to food stamps in the Senate version of the Farm Bill, against unprecedented cuts being proposed in the House.

Benefits amounts were cut because a temporary increase enacted during the recession expired.

Regal says many Pennsylvanians who suffered most in that time period still haven't recovered – and now, that additional benefit amount they've relied on has disappeared.

"It's cold comfort to somebody who might have just started receiving food stamps in July, to tell them, 'Oh, this isn't really a cut, it's just an expiration of an increase in benefits from 2009,'" he points out.

Regal says the SNAP reductions that kicked in Nov. 1 are costing a family of four in Pennsylvania roughly $36 less a month in benefits.

The USDA estimates that's enough to feed one of those family members for about a week.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021