Congress must reject any and all funding cuts to essential nutrition programs
If the Farm Bill to be considered in the House Committee on Agriculture on May 23 becomes law, it will mean a cut of nearly $30 billion in future SNAP benefits over a decade.
Such cuts are unconscionable. For many children, they will make learning more difficult and lead to negative health outcomes. They will force families and older adults to choose between putting food on the table and paying for other expenses such as rent, utility bills, or prescription drugs. They will also harm our economy, removing the stimulative benefits of SNAP and even hurting farmers and ranchers along the way.
SNAP is the most effective anti-hunger program in the U.S. It reduces hunger by 30% and provides nutritious meals to one-quarter of America’s children.
The House bill makes these cuts by limiting the USDA’s ability to update the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines SNAP benefit levels, to reflect the real costs of a nutritious diet, based on science, along with reflecting food prices that remain stubbornly high. This will make it tougher for families experiencing food insecurity as well as the food banks that aid them. These would be the largest cuts to SNAP benefits in almost 30 years if enacted. In addition, these changes will trigger more than $500 million in cuts to Summer EBT, which provides grocery benefits to children in low-income families during the summer when schools are closed, along with $100 million in cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides food for food banks and food pantries to distribute to individuals and families.
The House bill also would allow states to let private corporations take over determining eligibility for SNAP. Where this has been tried, replacing merit-based staff resulted in corporate skimping on careful help to people applying for or renewing benefits in order to maximize profits. It would also reverse previously enacted steps to reduce agriculture-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
During this time when many families grapple with the cost of housing and food, Congress must do everything in its power to provide relief to those who need it most.
Click “Start Writing” to send a message to Congress urging them to reject any and all cuts to nutrition programs in the FY2025 Farm Bill.
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CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship August 6, 2020
How much more will people lose before Trump and McConnell provide help?The House enacted its HEROES bill on May 15. The Senate has not yet acted; its majority caucus is divided.Since the House acted, the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has soared from 1.4 million to 4.8 million. We have gained back some of the jobs lost, but are still at least 13 million below the February peak, and now, as weekly unemployment claims have well exceeded 1 million for 20 weeks, job growth sharply slowed in July. About 30 million jobless people are now going without the $600/week extra unemployment compensation, and that is making it much harder for them to pay rent or buy food. In a nation where 600+ billionaires saw their aggregate incomes rise $42 billion per week between March 18-July 16, the Senate majority and White House have stopped more than $15 billion a week in the $600 unemployment payments; it will take at least weeks for state offices to start them up again. In the meantime, shocking numbers of people cannot pay their rent or get enough to eat. McConnell’s majority has not agreed to an increase in SNAP or emergency rental assistance, but they have proposed doubling the tax break for business meals. States are making cuts, costing more jobs and services. 158,000 have died. Our nation needs action now.
How many jobless people would be helped by the payroll tax cut that President Trump has now talked about doing by executive order, because you don’t pay it when you’re out of work. Tweet this.
More than half
51 percent of people lived in households where someone lost income from work (week ending July 21). From April 23 through July 21, the number of people in such households grew by 10 million, to 126.5 million.
2.23 million fewer
In June, 2.4 million private sector jobs were added; in July, only 167,000, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. The sharp slowing was said to result from the surge in COVID cases followed by more business restrictions/fewer customers. Tweet this.
One in five
The number of households that couldn’t pay their rent in the past month. (Closer to 30% for Latinx (27%), Black households (30%), households with children (28%).) The moratorium on evictions in federally subsidized/backed units expired on 7/25.
14.7 million
14.7 million people in households with children sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week (week ending 7/21); that’s up 1.8 million since the week ending 5/26. 25% of Black and 21% of Latinx households with children did not have enough to eat, more than twice the rate of whites (10.5%).
12.2 million
How many people would be kept out of poverty through December if Congress reinstates the $600/week unemployment benefit, approves another round of improved stimulus payments, and increases SNAP, as in the House HEROES bill.
20
20 states have cut education funding (K-12 and/or higher education) for FYs 20 or 21 because of revenue shortfalls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
-1.9 million
1.9 million education jobs estimated to be lost in FYs 20-22 based on decline in state revenues going to education, according to the National Education Assoc.