Ohio Food Stamp Cut Won't Be As Severe As Expected

A drop in food stamp benefits for some Ohioans won't be as steep as first feared a few weeks ago. Ohio officials say a change in the way the federal government calculates the benefits means some Ohio families will lose $23 a month. That's better than the $50 a month drop the state was anticipating. State officials appealed an earlier decision that would have led to the much larger reduction. The cut won't apply to all 869,000 households receiving food stamps, but only to some homeowners and renters who have a "standard utility allowance" deducted when determining whether they are eligible for food stamps.