Demand Congress save SNAP from extreme budget cuts
Republicans in the House and Senate are proposing to slash more than $230 billion from SNAP and school nutrition programs in order to fund more tax handouts for the wealthy and billion-dollar corporations. But it’s far from a done deal.
SNAP is not only our most effective anti-hunger program, it plays a crucial role in reducing poverty and improving health and economic outcomes. It’s also linked to better education outcomes and self-sufficiency, and plays an important role in supporting rural communities.
SNAP is one of the most cost-effective government programs in existence. Every dollar spent on SNAP generates $1.80 in local communities. Cuts to SNAP and school nutrition programs will have devastating consequences for generations to come.
Individual states currently pay a portion of the cost of administering SNAP, while the federal government pays the actual benefits. Implementing a $230 billion cut could force states to take on a portion of the cost of nutrition benefits for the first time, a radical change in the program that could lead to drastic cuts, increasing wait times for approval for benefits, or put a huge squeeze on states leading to slashed investments in other programs.
Cutting SNAP (and Medicaid, another right-wing target) also makes it harder for eligible families to obtain free or reduced-price school meals, summer food assistance for school-aged children (Summer EBT), and WIC benefits. School meal programs and Summer EBT automatically enroll eligible children using SNAP and Medicaid, while WIC agencies use automated systems to check for SNAP or Medicaid eligibility. In addition, the House Budget Committee has put forth numerous specific budget-cutting proposals, including a $12 billion cut to free school breakfast and lunch programs, affecting 24,000 schools nationwide.
Cutting funding for nutrition programs in order to pay for some of Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax handout―mostly to the wealthy and corporations―is an abomination.
The Holiday Cliff Edition. Congress will be back home during the Thanksgiving week. So, while there are 36 days from today to the date the last pandemic unemployment checks are sent (December 26), there are only 27 days from when they return. On New Year’s Eve, the eviction moratorium will expire. As we approach Thanksgiving, 26 million adults reported that in the past 7 days, their household sometimes or often did not have enough to eat – 12 percent. Hunger was more frequent in households with children – 16 percent of adults living with children said they did not always have enough to eat in the previous week.
Reyna Gonzalez, a wife, mother, and grandmother, lost her job as a cook at Anaheim Ducks Breakaway Bar and Grill at the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California amid the COVID-19 fallout. She had worked there faithfully for 20 years. She loved her job and worked hard to earn her financial freedom. “To many, my $15-an-hour job may not seem like much,” she told the New York Times. “But it gave me my independence. It allowed me to pay for my house, my car and car insurance. It allowed me to move around, solve my own problems…I don’t like having to apply for government aid.”
Now as COVID-19 cases continue to surge and relief remains elusive, it is even more important that people of color understand just how much is at stake in the U.S. Senate run-offs and feel empowered to participate in the democratic process again. It is unusual for a state to elect two Senators at once, but Georgians will do so because one of the contests is a special election to fill the remaining two years of the previous Senator’s term. With two seats to fill, it is especially vital that everyone take a stand and vote.
The we’re-increasingly-alarmed-yet-a-tad-bit-optimistic edition. COVID-19 is burning through America’s heartland like a California wildfire. Over the past week, there has been an average of 134,078 new cases a day, an increase of 72 percent from the average two weeks earlier. The U.S. may soon see new confirmed cases climb above 200,000 a day – a figure that would have been unfathomable when daily cases peaked at over 70,000 new cases a day last July. In multiple states, hospital officials warned that the current spike is straining resources and sidelining the very staffers needed to care for sick people.
Monica Marling used to work as a waitperson at Avenue Eats in Wheeling, West Virginia. When the pandemic hit, she lost her job, just like millions of others in the service industry. Monica is part of the “shecession.” Millions of women have left the workforce – some because their jobs in the hospitality industry evaporated, but many others, particular those with elementary-school age children, because of children who have to learn virtually at home and due to a lack of affordable childcare.
The we’re-still-counting-votes-and-COVID-cases edition. Even as a record number of Americans cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reached staggering levels. For the first time, we surpassed 100,000 new cases in a single day. Case levels have reached alarming new records in recent days as outbreaks continue to grow across the country. Weekly infection rates reached record levels in nearly half the country in late October. Oklahoma, Kansas, and North Dakota are among the states struggling to handle the onslaught of cases amid shortages of both nurses – who themselves are infected or in quarantine – and ICU beds.
With the help of the internet and social media, there are countless voices from every corner of the globe voicing moving ideas and compelling statements. But not everyone who shares has the best of intentions. Here are some helpful guidelines regarding what to do and what not to do when consuming information from your social media feeds to protect yourself – and others — from false material.
As Election Day approaches, it is important for voters to know their rights and make sure their voices are heard. If you are voting at the polls, below is a list of basic rights and resources to keep in mind when you are performing your civic duty on November 3rd. Most likely things will go smoothly, but here is useful information if you encounter any problems.
The COVID, COVID is everywhere edition. Covid-19 cases are soaring. On Oct. 28, 81,457 new infections were reported in the U.S. — the highest number so far in the U.S. Today we will surpass a cumulative total of nine million cases. Rural counties and small metro areas are seeing the worst growth, but infections also are rising rapidly in and around major cities like Chicago and Milwaukee.
Large landlords have filed nearly 10,000 eviction notices in just five states since early September, despite a CDC moratorium that runs through Dec. 31 on people actually losing their homes due to COVID-19-related hardship, according to a disturbing new report. The report, published Monday by NBC News, quotes housing advocates who are worried that the number may just be the tip of the iceberg – and that many evictions could occur once the moratorium expires.
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on the possibility of another COVID-19 response package, continued work on the 2020 Census, a victory for SNAP recipients, and more.
The 3 million kids are missing edition. The coronavirus pandemic has not hit everyone equally. We know that Latinx and Black households are most adversely affected, both in the workplace and in susceptibility to COVID-19. Women, too, have been hit hard, the pandemic’s effects exacerbated by their familiar role as primary caregivers as well as their over-representation in the decimated service industries. But there is a whole other population at risk – children and young people. This week, a groundbreaking study was released that estimates 3 million of the most educationally marginalized children have not seen the inside of a classroom – virtual or in-person – since last March, when most schools shut down. Many of these 3 million are kids with disabilities, English learners, students in foster care, migrant students, and homeless students.
