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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.

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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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Poverty and Hardship – Then and Now

September 9, 2021 @ 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Watch this webinar here. Slides available at this link here.

Every year, CHN provides training on what to expect from the Census Bureau’s annual poverty, income, and health insurance data, and how to find and use the data online. But the pandemic and the ensuing economic shutdown has complicated the data that’s being released and its interpretation. But don’t fret: We’re tailoring our training to prepare you for this year’s needs.

Join us for a webinar that will put the upcoming Census Bureau release in context and tell you how to use its findings.  The Census Bureau’s new data, to be released on Sept. 14, covers the year 2020.  But there is also more current data, available this year for the first time, that we want you to know how to use.  Together, these sources make the case for the package of poverty-fighting policies proposed for action now in Congress.

The timing is perfect for you to learn about and act on this information – so please join us!

Register here.

Presenters:

The Context:  Economic progress means addressing racial and ethnic disparities
William Spriggs:  An economist with a distinguished career in public policy and equity in employment, William Spriggs is a professor in, and former Chair of, the Department of Economics at Howard University and Chief Economist for the AFL-CIO.  He served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor in the Obama Administration, and had senior economic policy roles at the Economic Policy Institute, National Urban League, and at the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

Today’s Reality:  We’ll hear from Christopher Wimer and Megan Curran from the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy and Claire Zippel from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to learn about current monthly poverty estimates and the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse data showing the hardships households face trying to cover regular household expenses, including food, housing, and utilities.

How to Put it Together:  Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, will explain how to use the data coming out on September 14, and how to combine it with the other sources to make the case for a Build Back Better agenda that can lead to unprecedented progress in reducing poverty.

This webinar will be close captioned. Even if you can’t attend, register and we’ll follow up with a captioned recording, slides, and other important resources that will help you learn about and act on the information the Census Bureau is releasing.

Watch this webinar here. Slides available at this link here.

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Date:
September 9, 2021
Time:
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
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Website:
https://youtu.be/QRcgp-X2Ico

Organizer

Coalition on Human Needs

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