Council OKs $160,000 to qualify residents for food stamps Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 9:46 p.m., Wednesday, October 31, 2012 In recent months, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has repeatedly faulted President Barack Obama for the increasing number of Americans receiving federal assistance to buy groceries. The city will give the money to the Houston Food Bank to hire three outreach workers to enroll more people in what's officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. According to USDA statistics, nearly 32 million people were receiving food stamps at the start of Obama's term, compared with more than 46 million now. Some analysts have noted that President George W.