The disastrous budget reconciliation package that is now in the Senate will severely harm at-risk communities unless substantial changes are made.
The $295 million in SNAP cuts will increase hunger across the country, hitting children, seniors, and working families the hardest. At a time when food insecurity is still high in many communities, cutting SNAP is both cruel and short-sighted.
Roughly 15 million Americans will lose health coverage because of the $800 billion cut to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act along with other provisions in the House package.
Tens of millions of people with low incomes will lose access to basic needs programs, all to give tax breaks that primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations while inflicting harm on immigrant communities.
We cannot keep allowing the passage of these unfair tax policies that disproportionately benefit the rich while making low-income and vulnerable communities suffer, including by taking food assistance and health care away from millions. That’s not good for our society or economy.
Now more than ever, it’s critical that Congress protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs—not take them away. We need each and every Senator to get a strong and clear message that their constituents oppose these harmful proposals.
Making Community Eligibility Work with Lower ISPs
Community eligibility is a federal option that allows high poverty schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students. Schools can participate in community eligibility as long as 40 percent of the enrolled students are automatically eligible to receive free school meals—typically by way of direct certification. Thousands of schools across the nation have adopted community eligibility with ISPs between 40 and 60 percent and are finding that it can help improve their school nutrition finances, while increasing the number of students experiencing the educational and health benefits linked to eating school meals. . Now is the time to start planning for community eligibility implementation for the 2019-2020 school year. Join this webinar to learn about the strategies and resources available for making community eligibility work at schools with ISPs between 40 and 60 percent.