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.
Join the Coalition on Human Needs and Americans for Financial Reform for a webinar that will tell you all about rules that protect consumers from payday loans and other forms of predatory financing-and how the Trump administration is trying to repeal those protections.
And you’ll learn how to slow down the Administration’s efforts by commenting on the dangers of their proposal.
In October 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final national rule that protected borrowers from appallingly high interest rates on payday and car title loans. For years, civil rights organizations, consumer advocates, faith groups, working families, and others across the country have pushed for a rule to protect their communities from the payday lending debt trap. But now the CFPB is looking to gut crucial protections against predatory payday lenders.
Join us to learn why payday and car title lending protections work, and how we can protect them. This webinar will feature expert speakers on the rule change and why it matters, as well as examples of why protections against payday lending work at the state level. You’ll also learn about how you can take action to stop the Trump administration by commenting against the CFPB rule change.
Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, will moderate.