Food banks got about $15 million less in Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget than current spending, and were hoping state lawmakers would restore that cut – especially since demand is at an all-time high.
But there’s no change in the Republican House budget, as food banks are wrestling with cuts at the federal level too.
About 3.4 million Ohioans - more than a quarter of the state’s population - qualify for food bank assistance, though most are working. As visits are up, food banks have also seen orders canceled because of a half a billion dollar cut by the US Department of Agriculture.
House Finance Chair Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said food banks aren’t getting their full funding request in this budget, but no one is.
“We have 4% unemployment in the state. We have a huge list of open jobs available for people to go fill. I hope people do. We think that should drive the demand for the food banks down,” Stewart said in an interview for “The State of Ohio” this weekend. “We are funding food banks like we are everyone to the capacity that we can. But we're not going to live outside our means.”
Stewart bristles at suggestions that lawmakers shouldn’t approve a $600 million bond package to help the Cleveland Browns build a new $3.4 billion stadium and development in Brook Park if other things aren’t fully funded. The Haslam Sports Group has said the project will generate $1.3 billion more than the state’s repayment obligation on the bonds, which is nearly a billion dollars over 30 years. Stewart said he thinks the proposal is “reasonable” and that’s he’s confident in those numbers.
“Our capital budget does not affect what we spend on any other state obligations. So those are those are apples and oranges,” Stewart said. “With regard to the food banks, they are getting $22.5 million in each year from the state budget. They're not getting the full amount they asked for. Again, nobody really is in this budget.”
A study cited by the Ohio Association of Food Banks last August showed 49.2% of households using food banks had no member who was employed. Of those who were unemployed, 58% reported they were too sick or disabled to work and 43.8% said they were retired. 57.4% said they were not receiving Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, often referred to as food stamps.
