supplemental nutrition assistance program

Many Maryland parents struggle to feed their kids when they have to stretch their SNAP dollars during the summer months. A new program will address this.

Seawall Development will hold the first in a series of town-hall meetings next week to allow public comment on the overhall of Lexington Market.

By Christina Tkacik

Jun 20, 2019

If the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has its way, a new federal poverty calculation will underestimate the number of families living in poverty,

Some longtime Lexington Market vendors who can no longer take food stamps say the program's changes are costing them business.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jun 17, 2019

Denying much-needed funds from city schools with greatest burden of low-income students is an outrage. So why is that about to happen?

Just four years ago, more than 90 percent of students at John Ruhrah Elementary/Middle were identified as low-income — and that qualified the school for $250,000 in badly needed funds. A policy change has made that money disappear — even though the school's student population is no less needy.

By Talia Richman

May 6, 2019

The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Association proposal to place on excise tax on sodas could go a long way in improving the health of American children.

Poor children in Baltimore City are being undercounted. This is a systemic problem put in place four years ago, when we stopped collecting lunch applications, used for decades to set poverty rates. The proxy for poverty, critical for determining school supports, is now a flawed measure.

President Donald Trump proposed a record $4.7 trillion federal budget for 2020 on Monday, which increases military spending while making historic cuts to domestic programs.

By Christina Tkacik

Mar 11, 2019

After the government shutdown, food stamp benefits for all Maryland recipients will be distributed March 6.

By Yvonne Wenger

Feb 27, 2019

As Maryland lawmakers debate whether to increase the state's hourly minimum wage, workers and business owners watch to see how they'll be affected. Some saying it’s vital for workers to be paid enough to take care of basic needs. Others warn an increase would be a job-killing measure.

In Maryland, at least 16 incidents of hate or bias citing Trump or his campaign were reported to police in 2016 and 2017, according to police reports.

By Catherine Rentz

Feb 5, 2019

The Maryland Transit Administration is offering free bus, light rail, metro and MARC service to unpaid federal government workers until the end of the partial government shutdown.

By Colin Campbell

Jan 24, 2019

Corporate Democrats don't share precisely the same goals as those at the grassroots level, says Robert B. Reich.

Rep. Andy Harris did a disservice to the Eastern Shore when he voted for the farm bill.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger explains his vote against the Farm Bill because of an unrelated provision related to U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen.

Congress approved what is known as the farm bill — legislation that sets federal agricultural and food policy for five years — on Wednesday. It does more than help farmers.

By Scott Dance

Dec 13, 2018

The farm bill only advanced after Republicans inserted language that barred a floor vote for the rest of 2018 on a resolution limiting U.S. intervention in war-torn Yemen. Lawmakers passed that rule 206-203 — with the votes of five Democrats, including Maryland Rep. Ruppersberger.

The city of Baltimore is suing the Trump administration over changes the State Department made to how it weighs the use of government benefits by potential immigrants and their families when deciding whether to issue visas.

By Sarah Meehan

Nov 29, 2018

Immigrants who legally use public benefits like food assistance, Medicaid or housing could be denied green cards in the future. To those who think that the U.S. has too many immigrants already, this new “public charge” rule may sound like a good idea. It's not: American children will pay the price

Trump administration plan to deny green cards to legal immigrants who use benefits like Medicaid and food stamps is not just classism, it's inhumane and unAmerican.

State prosecutors are investigating former Baltimore Social Services chief Molly McGrath Tierney after auditors questioned nearly $2 million she directed to a contractor and local nonprofit.

By Tim Prudente

Sep 13, 2018

As Hurricane Florence churns toward the East Coast, Maryland watermen on the Chesapeake Bay are preparing for yet another challenge from Mother Nature this year. Many are pulling crab pots from the water or moving them to deeper water in case of the storm.

By Scott Dance

Sep 12, 2018

A United Way study of the working poor shows that 38 percent of Maryland families — and nearly half of Baltimore ones — cannot afford basic necessities, such as housing, transportation, food and child care.

By Yvonne Wenger

Sep 12, 2018

Proposal to reduce food stamp benefits would be disastrous for the health and welfare of many low-income Americans.

SNAP is at risk as Congress attempts to reconcile two very different versions of the Farm Bill, one passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the other, far superior bill that passed the Senate earlier this summer.

Maryland farmers and SNAP recipients have reason to thank New York for keeping farmer's markets open to all.

“Is this person a citizen of the United States?” This simple question, which the Census Bureau is proposing to add to the 2020 census, would surely decrease immigrant participation. We ask community leaders and organizations to join us in opposing this question.

Ravens great Ray Lewis thanked many people as he was enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

By Childs Walker

Aug 4, 2018

Maryland is working to maintain access to farmers markets for those who use food stamps.

Tainted breast milk is just one example of nutrition coming up short in the U.S.

Baltimore County superintendent: When our schools reopen this fall, students at all schools who qualify for free or reduced-price meals will receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to families. Those who don't, wont. Here's why.

President Donald Trump is offering a bailout to farmers. Where will it end?

A move to provide free meals to some 9,500 students in 19 Baltimore County public schools is getting resistance over concerns it could result in less federal money for the system’s most needy students.

By Lauren Lumpkin

Jul 23, 2018

I read recently that nearly 70 per cent of U.S. voters don’t want Roe overturned. So, how can a few wealthy white men be in a position to take this right away? I am a 54-year-old woman who will never have to face this decision, but I desperately want this choice to continue for future generations.

Maryland health officials are warning consumers to avoid unpasteurized Venezuelan crab meat because they believe it has sickened nine people with infections of Vibrio bacteria. They have not pinpointed a single source of the contaminated meat.

By Scott Dance

Jul 6, 2018

The Fourth of July is the busiest time of year for Maryland's crab industry. But now that it has passed, uncertainty hangs over the summer and fall.

By Scott Dance

Jul 6, 2018

A Finksburg man is being held without bond after allegedly assaulting a woman on June 30.

Ben Carson grew up in public housing, received government assistance, and devoted his career as a surgeon to the people of Baltimore.  Now the agency he runs, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is proposing divisive cuts from the top down on the people who need it the most.

Maryland Democrats in Congress asked the Trump administration on Thursday to grant crab shacks temporary relief from a new rule that is preventing many from accepting food stamps for steamed crabs.

By Jeff Barker

Jun 14, 2018

Cal Thomas: If the only motivation for the GOP is the next election, why have any Republicans in Congress at all?

Why do many Americans who benefit from the social safety net believe it's rife with fraud?

By Dan Rodricks

May 15, 2018

On Sunday, when former Ellicott City resident Kayvon Asemani walks across the stage to pick up his business degree from the prestigious Wharton School, he's certain he'll feel the spirit of his mother, who has been in a coma for 13 years as a result of domestic violence.

By Mary Carole McCauley

May 10, 2018

Federal regulators have forbidden many Baltimore-area carry-out shops from accepting food stamps for steamed crabs, a move that is stirring debate over whether it is an appropriate use of government benefits and what impact it could have on a beleaguered seafood industry.

By Scott Dance

May 10, 2018

Reducing investment in food stamps would cause unnecessary suffering to many Americans.

Stop falsely portraying property owners and managers as the cause of housing segregation in Baltimore County.

Robert Reich: Despite the regulatory "relief" and giant tax cut they're getting, America's rich aren't investing more than before.

Proposal to restrict access to food stamps will only do harm to the nation's most vulnerable.

Republican efforts to require work from Americans in the social safety net is a classic big-government mistake.

The proposal to replace SNAP with “America’s harvest box,” a box of “shelf-stable” canned and boxed goods, for those households receiving over $90 per month, is perplexing and concerning to say the least.