Food assistance, 62 years on

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**Kimberly Adams** (0:31)
The past and future of food assistance in America.
From Marketplace in Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams. 62 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act into law, making food stamps, now known as SNAP benefits, permanent. On this anniversary, Marketplace's Samantha Fields looks at both the program's legacy and its future.

**Samantha Fields** (0:54)
Before SNAP, anyone who struggled to afford food was effectively on their own.

**Elaine Waxman** (0:59)
What people turned to was whatever might be available in terms of charity in their local communities.

**Samantha Fields** (1:05)
Elaine Waxman at the Urban Institute says there was no comprehensive government response to food insecurity.

**Elaine Waxman** (1:11)
That is one of the things that's been powerful about SNAP, is that it was available everywhere. If you met the eligibility requirements, you received it.

**Samantha Fields** (1:22)
For decades, she says, SNAP has been highly effective at reducing food insecurity and poverty. Lauren Bauer at Brookings says that was President Johnson's goal.

**Lauren Bauer** (1:31)
The day he signed the law, he said, As a permanent program, the food stamp plan will be one of our most valuable weapons for the war on poverty. And I think that that's been true.

**Samantha Fields** (1:41)
But it's starting to change. Congress approved major funding cuts to SNAP last summer and introduced new work requirements.
Already, Bauer says more than 5 million people have lost their benefits.

**Lauren Bauer** (1:54)
Enrollment in the SNAP program is continuing to decline in every state. And what we are seeing here is the potential for states to drop out of the program entirely.

**Samantha Fields** (2:05)
Because starting next year, states will have to help fund SNAP for the first time. And Tim Shaw at the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program says many states don't have the money.

**Tim Shaw** (2:16)
The vast majority of states have to balance their budgets every year because they don't have flexibility.

**Samantha Fields** (2:22)
Which could mean that in some states, more than 60 years of food assistance could soon come to an end. I'm Samantha Fields for Marketplace.

**Kimberly Adams** (2:30)
The US will host G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, North Carolina today and tomorrow. They have a lot on their plate, issues ranging from trade to deficits to China. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer joins me now to discuss this. Good morning, Nancy.

**Nancy Marshall Genzer** (2:46)
Good morning.

**Kimberly Adams** (2:47)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a lot he wants to talk about at this meeting. What's on his agenda?

**Nancy Marshall Genzer** (2:52)
Bessent would like to discuss things like economic growth, the growing debt of G20 member countries. He'd like to discuss reducing regulation, boosting energy production. And Bessent also wants other countries to help the US isolate Iran economically. He told the Associated Press yesterday, the Treasury Department is planning to levy sanctions on another bank. It's accusing of still doing business with Iran.

**Kimberly Adams** (3:16)
Bessent also wants some coordination with G20 countries on China. What will he be asking them to do there?

**Nancy Marshall Genzer** (3:22)
Bessent says other countries have to examine their terms of trade with China. The US has, of course, accused China of overproducing, then flooding the market by exporting stuff. It just can't sell at home. And Bessent wants other countries to also pressure Beijing to try to increase domestic demand. So it doesn't have to rely so much on exports. Of course, this all comes in the run up to the scheduled summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi late next month.

**Kimberly Adams** (3:49)
I imagine other countries will have other things they want to talk about at the summit. Are they on the same page as Bessent?

**Nancy Marshall Genzer** (3:55)
Not completely. They're expected to bring up tariffs. All of the G20 members were hit with new US import taxes last month of 10% to 12.5% after the US accused them of not doing enough to enforce bans on forced labor.
They could be in line for even more tariffs because the US could also accuse them of overproducing and flooding the market with their exports.

**Kimberly Adams** (4:19)