More than 40 cents of every dollar that Pennsylvania spends goes to either food stamps or healthcare for poor families. A new report at the State Capitol says 42-percent of Pennsylvania’s 45-billion-dollar state budget goes to human services, which includes food stamps and Medicaid. That’s because of the massive growth in both programs. In 2000, 760 thousand people in Pennsylvania were on food stamps, now that’s up to two million. In 2000, just over one million people were enrolled in Medicaid, now that number is over three million. State Rep. Joe Hamm says that’s because the programs are growing at just over five percent each year.
