Strengthening the Safety Net

House Committee on the Budget • April 17, 2012 • Economic Security, Effective Government

Robert Greenstein • President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

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Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Bob Greenstein, head of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute located here in Washington. I also served many years ago as Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA, which operates SNAP (then called food stamps) and other domestic food assistance programs

My testimony covers several related issues: a look at the functioning of the safety net as a whole; a more intensive focus on Medicaid and SNAP; and a discussion of changes in welfare over the past 15 years and their implications.

Please download the transcript for full text.