The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a progressive think tank backed by billionaire financier George Soros, boasted to Minnesota state officials in 2016 that it works closely with “the majority of states” to secure wide-ranging food stamp work requirement waivers, emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.
{snip}
Now, the Soros-backed group is making false claims about the efforts from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to tighten food stamp work requirements for able-bodied adults in their “big, beautiful bill.” The CBPP says the homeless, veterans, and former foster youth would lose access to food stamp benefits if the GOP gets its way—but the bill specifically exempts pregnant women, individuals who are “currently homeless,” veterans, and former foster children age 24 or younger.
House Agriculture Committee spokesman Ben Nichols said the CBPP is “fear mongering” about GOP’s food stamp proposals, noting that House Agriculture Committee chairman Rep. Glenn Thompson (R., Pa.) has made clear that those exemptions will remain in place. Instead, the bill would close the sorts of loopholes leveraged by the CBPP as it helped states secure work requirement waivers for able-bodied adults with no disabilities or dependents.
{snip}
“CBPP prepares waivers for the majority of states, at state request. FNS is aware of the quality of our product,” then-CBPP vice president for food assistance policy Stacy Dean wrote in a 2016 email to Minnesota state officials. CBPP has received substantial funding from Democratic megadonors, including over $5.6 million from Soros and the Democracy Alliance since 2016.
“We have every confidence that FNS wants to support MN to continue its waivers and that they will expedite the review of this request,” Dean wrote. “I apologize if we are being too forward with this note. Because we draft so many waivers, we have the capacity to turn a request like this around very quickly.”
{snip}
Dean’s connections at FNS paid her dividends during the Biden administration. Biden appointed her as deputy undersecretary of food, nutrition, and consumer services in January 2021, a post she held until June 2024 when she left to take a position at George Washington University. As Biden’s food stamp chief, Dean worked closely with the CBPP to draft food stamp policy, the Free Beacon reported. Dean held the post in 2021 when the Biden administration sidestepped Congress and adopted a $256 billion food stamp extension by changing the way the federal government calculates SNAP benefits.
The House Agriculture Committee said the CBPP was instrumental in bringing about the 2021 Biden food stamp extension.
The CBPP did not return a request for comment.
* Original Article: