— House Republicans are targeting domestic nutrition programs and international food assistance as they try to control spending in next year’s budget.In a bill released Monday, Republicans proposed cutting $832 million — or 11 percent — from this year’s budget for the Women, Infants and Children program, which provides food for low-income mothers and children. The 2012 budget proposal for food and farm programs also includes a decrease of almost $457 million, or 23 percent, from international food assistance.The legislation would cut $2 billion from food stamps, or about 1.3 percent of the feeding program’s giant $67 billion budget. Republicans who wrote the bill said the cuts in domestic food programs are taken from excess dollars in those accounts, and participants won’t see a decrease in services.Domestic nutrition programs are mined for dollars in tight budget times because they often have extra money sitting in their accounts. Money is allocated for the programs based on projections of need and food costs, and those needs are sometimes overestimated.Hunger advocates have warned against stripping those programs of those reserves. Two analysts from the liberal research and advocacy group Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Zo Neuberger and Robert Greenstein, said Monday that the cuts could mean turning away as many as 475,000 people from the Women, Infants and Children program if food prices continue to rise.Almost 9 million low-income mothers and children participate in the WIC program, which provides food, health care referrals and nutrition education.Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said the GOP budget “rolls back years of progress.”
