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.
Take Action
Subscribe
DonateWatch the recording of this webinar here. With the passage of the American Rescue Plan, additional much-needed immediate help for COVID-19 pandemic recovery is on the way. Now President Biden is proposing an additional package of investments on infrastructure and human needs. Join CHN and Sharon Parrott, the new president...
From our friends at the YWCA: YWCA USA’s 15th annual Stand Against Racism campaign will take place April 22 – 25, 2021. We invite YWCAs and allied groups to focus their events and organizing on the myriad of racial justice issues that impact the health and safety of communities of...
From our friends at the YWCA: Public health is — and always has been — central to racial justice work. In this virtual town hall event, Addressing Racism as a Public Health Crisis on Thursday, April 22 at 3 pm ET, YWCA USA will convene a panel of trailblazers who have been central to declaring...
View this webinar here. View the slides here. Critical gains for children have been made with the passage of the American Rescue Plan. But Congress needs to make ongoing investments to ensure our children's futures aren't permanently damaged and to shrink the gaps between poor and non-poor children and between...
On Monday, June 21st, poor people, low-wage workers, moral and faith leaders, advocates and our growing coalition of supporters will gather online simultaneously with a (socially-distant) rally in Raleigh, North Carolina for a National Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers Assembly. The Coalition on Human Needs is proud to support and...
View a recording of this webinar here. See the slides here. The Biden Administration's proposed American Jobs and American Families Plans provide unprecedented opportunities to address deep-seated racial inequities in education, employment, health, housing, and income. With this Administration and Congress, we have a very real chance of advancing once-in-a-lifetime...
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...
A captioned recording of the webinar is available at this link here. Find the slides at this link here. Rising prices on food and essential goods affect everyone, but they have a disproportionately high impact on people with low incomes. With recent inflation higher than it’s been in decades, some...
While it has become increasingly clear there is no longer a path for the House-approved version of Build Back Better, Congress can still reach a reasonable compromise on a scaled-back — but still significant — package that would provide relief to families who need it and invest in our future....
On March 28th President Biden released his proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget. This budget proposes vital investments in our future while providing for the urgent economic and public health investments that families need now. Join the Coalition on Human Needs and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to hear...
All of Us: Honoring forty years of the Coalition on Human Needs Our second ever (and hopefully last!) virtual Human Needs Hero celebration will be held on Zoom this year! Every year, the Coalition on Human Needs gathers advocates, from neophytes to veterans with decades of experience, to celebrate...
You can view a recording of CHN’s training webinar here. Please also see the slides here, The Census Bureau will release new poverty, income and health insurance data on September 13-15. This data will cover the pandemic year of 2021, a year in which COVID cases surged early, plunged and then...
