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 September 4, 2020
Labor Day Edition. In August, we saw slower progress in job growth than in the previous two months. The 1.4 million jobs gained included 238,000 temporary Census workers, whose jobs will end in about a month. While total unemployment declined to 8.4 percent, it was 13 percent for Blacks, 10.5 percent for Latinx, and 7.3 percent for whites, underscoring continued disparities in the way the pandemic recession is hitting different racial/ethnic groups. COVID-19 is not going away.“There are several states that are at risk for surging, namely North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci, warning about the possibility of further spread over the holiday weekend. It’s been 5 weeks since the termination of the $600/week Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, and so far only 15 percent of workers have seen the $300/week promised by the Trump Administration. The Senate took zero steps to act during its 25–day vacation; they’re coming back right after Labor Day, and what they will do is very unclear. In the meantime, the Centers for Disease Control judged the threat of millions of evictions a public health emergency requiring a broad moratorium on evictions through December 31. But with millions using up their meager savings to try to pay bills and one-third to nearly half of Latinx and Black households with children unable to pay rent, emergency rental assistance and more income assistance is going to be needed to keep people in their homes.
In 41 states (including Guam and D.C.) COVID caseloads either stayed the same or roseover the most recent 2-week period. (In 15 states plus Guam new cases per capita rose; 24 states plus DC stayed the same.)
How muchmoney jobless people have lost in 5 weeks since the $600/week Pandemic Unemployment Compensation was allowed to expire that they would have received if the House’s HEROES Act had been signed into law. Tweet this.
7 states
Only7 states have begun paying $300/week in Lost Wages Assistance, covering about 15% of jobless workers, withfunding President Trump is diverting from FEMA disaster relief. Most other states are not expected to get these funds out earlier than mid-to-late September, and the funds will run out after about 4-5 weeks.
38 percent of people who have lost a job or had their income reduced due to COVID-19 couldn’t last more than a monthfrom savings.
From 27%to 45%
The growth from 2019 to 2020 in the percentage of Black households with children that were falling behind in rent or mortgage payments or predicting they would. Among Latinx households with children, the percentage increased from 33% to 44%. Among white households with children, the percentage rose only from 18.5% to 19.2%.
30 to 40 million
The number of people in renter households facing eviction – as cited by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in its order announcing an eviction moratorium through December 31. So many evictions would result in overcrowding in housing and more homeless people in shelters, creating a public health emergency by increasing the spread pf COVID-19, CDC found. To make sure the moratorium applies to tenants, they need this from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
70%
70 percent of Black immigrant domestic workers surveyed lost their jobs in the pandemic; 65 percent of respondents were fearful or at risk of eviction or utility shut off in the next three months.