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The following is a story from Gongwer News:

Volume #79, Report #159--Monday, August 16, 2010
ADVOCATES: OHIO FOOD STAMP PROGRAM FACES $373 MILLION HIT IN EXCHANGE FOR MEDICAID, TEACHER SUPPORT
Ohio could lose about $373 million in annual food stamp benefits and thousands of related jobs unless Congress reverses a cut in the program that offset some of the cost of legislation boosting Medicaid and teacher salaries, a recent analysis shows.
The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks calculated the potential local impact the federal move would have on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, when the reduction takes effect in 2014.
"In the deepest recession of our lifetime, this takes food off the tables of children," OASHF Executive Director Ms. Hamler-Fugitt said. "Ohio now ranks third highest in the nation for childhood hunger for children under the age of 5."
The recent passage of legislation to extend an enhanced level of federal matching funds for Medicaid (eFMAP) and to support teacher jobs brought with it a $11.9 billion cut to planned food stamp increases. The federal stimulus program included a 13.6% scheduled increase in funding to SNAP benefits, but with Congress' passage of the eFMAP measure last week, that money was reallocated to cover some of the $26 billion cost of the bill.
Under the Medicaid measure, Ohio is projected to receive more than $500 million for the entitlement and $361 million to maintain or rehire 5,500 educators, according to the U.S. Department of Education. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, August 6, 2010)
OASHF used May statistics to calculate the impact the food stamp cut might have on Ohio. The state's 228,467 public and 530,976 non-public assistance groups issued $228.8 million in SNAP benefits that month.
Based on the 13.6% cut, Ohio would lose $31,123,419 per month for the program, bringing the annual total to $373,481,032, Ms. Hamler-Fugitt said.
Given that every $60,976 in assistance supports one job, Ms. Hamler-Fugitt said Ohio could lose 6,125 positions resulting in a potential economic stimulus drop of $687 million.
The average monthly issuance of food stamps for 1,619,992 Ohioans is $141. The increase would have meant an additional $19 per month per person, Ms. Hamler-Fugitt said.
"Food stamp case loads are at rates we've never seen before," she said. "These are the folks who are literally the poorest of the poor."
On top of the eFMAP measure, the U.S. Senate earlier this month approved a reauthorization of the child nutrition program, which would further cut SNAP benefits. Ms. Hamler-Fugitt said OASHF is backing a U.S. House version of the bill that does not include such funding slashes.
If the Senate version were enacted, reductions in food stamp support would start in 2013, she said.