The trump administration has proposed draconian changes and cuts to the U.S. food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These proposed changes have sparked sharp outrage from the public, Democrats and even some Republicans. One new provision that is hidden away in these changes is now catching businesses off guard. The White House wants to make it so that businesses have to be charged for accepting food stamps from their customers.
Charging businesses for food stamps
That provision comes in the form of a new fee that the Trump administration wants to charge businesses that accept food stamps.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the largest office within the Executive Office of the President, gave some details on this new fee. They said that it would be assessed when stores and businesses sign up to accept food stamps and would require renewal every five years.
The OMB said that the amount of money a store or business would be assessed would depend on its size and the type of retailer. An OMB official called the fee "modest" and argued that some large businesses redeem over $1 billion in food stamp benefits a year. President Trump's budget estimates that this fee would create $2.4 billion in revenue over the next ten years.
Businesses fight back
Businesses and stores, especially supermarkets, are fighting back against this change proposed by the Trump administration.
Businesses are arguing that this fee could end up costing them over $2 billion in lost revenue. Food stamps make up around 5.8% of an estimated $669 billion in yearly grocery store sales. Walmart would be the most effected by this fee as they take in $16 billion in food stamps, which accounts for about 23% of federal spending on food stamps.
The President of the Food Marketing Institute, which represents grocers, said that the proposed fee was a "flawed policy." The fee to charge for food stamps is only the latest battle that grocers are fighting with the new White House, as they are already fighting to block a controversial border adjustment tax that Congress is considering.
Other cuts to SNAP
This new food stamp fee is not the only controversial change that the Trump administration wants to make to SNAP, as they have proposed $191 billion in cuts over the next decade to the program. The budget office has argued that these reductions would come from increasing the work requirement to qualify for SNAP benefits, but that the actual details would be decided at the state level.
