Summary:
Pence voted against programs to help families with food insecurity:
2011: Pence Voted To Eliminate Reduced Price School Meals For Children Who Do Not Come From Low-Income Families. In April 2011, Pence voted to support eliminating reduced price meals for children who do not come from low-income families, as part of the Republican Study Committee’s proposed budget resolution covering fiscal years 2012 to 2021. According to the Republican Study Committee, “The federal government provides free and reduced‐price meals to children through the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) [...] Under the RSC budget, these programs would be funded at $18.7 billion in FY 2012 and $238 billion over the ten‐year window. The RSC budget proposes savings for this program by eliminating the subsidy for children who do not come from low‐income households.” The vote was on an amendment to the House budget resolution replacing the entire budget with the RSC’s proposed budget; the amendment failed by a vote of 119 to 136. In a tactical move, 172 Democrats voted “present” in order to force Republicans to either vote against their own proposal or else it would superseded Paul Ryan’s budget. According to the Huffington Post, “After time for the vote expired, Republicans held it open so that enough of them could switch their votes to prevent the RSC budget from passing.” [House Vote 275, 4/15/11; Republican Study Committee, 4/7/11; Huffington Post, 4/15/11]
2003: Pence Voted Against Reauthorizing The Runaway And Homeless Youth Program And The Missing Children’s Assistance Act For Five Years. In May 2003, Pence voted against legislation that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, “reauthorize[d] for five years the Runaway and Homeless Youth program and the Missing Children’s Assistance Act. It would [have] authorize[d] $105 million in fiscal 2004 for housing, outreach and other programs aimed at assisting runaway and homeless children. The bill also would [have] authorize[d] $20 million annually through fiscal 2008 for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.” The vote was on the legislation. The House adopted the bill by a vote of 404 to 14. The Senate later adopted the bill by unanimous consent and then the president signed it into law. [House Vote 197, 5/20/03; Congressional Quarterly, 5/20/03; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1925]
2011: Pence Voted Against Restoring Funding To The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In April 2011, Pence voted against restoring SNAP funding as part of the Democrats’ proposed budget resolution covering FY 2012 to 2021. According to Budget Committee Democrats, “Second, the budget reverses the SNAP (food stamp) reduction enacted in December 2010. ” The vote was on an amendment to the House budget resolution replacing the entire budget with the House Democrats’ proposed budget; the amendment failed by a vote of 166 to 259. [House Vote 276, 4/15/11; House Budget Committee Democrats, 4/13/11]
2012: Pence Voted To Reduce Food Stamps Decreasing The Number Of Eligible Enrollees. In May 2012, Pence voted for a bill which, according to Congressional Quarterly, would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, “result[ed] in a net reduction in federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) of up to $35.8 billion over 10 years. These reductions are achieved by decreasing SNAP benefits and the number of individuals eligible for SNAP benefits, by accelerating the termination of a temporary increase in maximum benefits enacted as part of the 2009 economic stimulus law (PL 111-5, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and by reducing the grants that states receive for various SNAP programs.” The underlying bill pertained to replacing automatic sequester cuts with other discretionary spending cuts, as well as repealing parts of health care reform and increasing federal employee pension contributions. The vote was on passage of the bill, the House passed the bill by a vote of 218 to 199. The Senate took no substantive action. [House Vote 247, 5/10/12; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5652; Congressional Quarterly, 5/10/12; Congressional Quarterly, 5/9/12]