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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The shot in the arm edition. More than one in five Americans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination; that number is slowly climbing toward one in four. But it is not just tens of millions of Americans who are receiving a shot in the arm – so is our economy, thanks to the American Rescue Plan.
The Coalition on Human Needs stands with the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and with people of conscience throughout our nation in outrage and grief over the hateful killings of eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in Atlanta.
Almost exactly one year ago, Kate Aronoff’s child care center closed due to COVID-19. She thought it would be closed for two weeks, and then her 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter would be able to return. But then Kate and her husband, who live in the small college town of Corvallis, Oregon, learned it was closing permanently. “We started calling around to all of the child care centers in our small-ish town to see who might have space and were able to get my children enrolled in another day care. However, two weeks later, we learned that that day care was also closing permanently, which was another big blow.”
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on what’s in the COVID-19 relief package and who it helps, changes to anti-immigrant regulations, the status of President Biden’s Cabinet, and more.
The victory lap edition. Help is on the way. Yesterday President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. The plan is bold enough to meet the twin problems of pandemic and recession; The New York Times calls it “virtually without precedent in recent American politics.”
It’s no secret that Donald Trump’s immigration policies were not popular with a large segment of the American public. From Trump’s Muslim travel ban, derailing family reunification policies, detaining migrants at the border, and pausing the processing of Green cards, the Biden Administration has scrambled to undo these immigration policies. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of normal federal immigration function.
Help is on the way. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, enacted today by Congress, will offer badly needed help to protect our people from the pandemic’s threats. It is of the scope needed to speed vaccines across the nation and to help families withstand the economic blows that still afflict us.
With the U.S. Senate on the verge of voting on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan, advocates for West Virginia families are saying federal relief is critical. Even before the pandemic, many in West Virginia faced food insecurity and a lack of childcare and broadband access – according to Amy Jo Hutchinson, an organizer with Our Future West Virginia. “Food insecurity is always a problem,” said Hutchinson. “A lot of that has to do with food access, because we’re so rural in so many areas. And I know that when COVID hit, the food pantries around here, they saw an increase of three times the regular need.”
The Hurry Up Senate edition. The Senate is poised to vote on the American Rescue Plan this weekend, and not a minute too soon. Unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire on March 14 if Congress does not get a bill to President Biden’s desk before then. Even if the bill gets final enactment early next week, some states may face an interruption in benefits because of the short lead time. Despite this, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) demanded a reading of the entire 628-page bill, which took hours.
As Arizona families struggle to recover from the pandemic’s economic fallout, advocates for children and families say quick passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan has become critical. Tomas Robles, co-chair of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, said families need help – before and after the pandemic is over. “There’s never going to be enough, in terms of total relief that our country has received,” said Robles. “But our families are going to take some of the assistance and really be able to continue pressing and persevering through this really difficult time in a lot of people’s lives.”
Colorado advocates for children, low-income workers and other vulnerable populations are urging Congress to pass President Joe Biden’s COVID relief package to address growing food and housing insecurity. Stephanie Perez-Carrillo, policy and partnerships manager for the Colorado Children’s Campaign, said families need help now. “All families, including immigrants, deserve a chance to be safe, healthy and to have the economic means to thrive,” Perez-Carrillo asserted. “We’re hoping that Congress acts now, and we call on lawmakers to pass this vital piece of legislation to support our nation’s families.”
As New Hampshire families struggle to recover from the pandemic’s economic fallout, advocates for children and families say quick passage of the American Rescue Plan is critical. Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, said the relief package will provide resources to speed vaccinations, increase health coverage and protect education and other services. “Above all, the rescue plan directs help where it is most needed: to jobless, to rural areas, to communities of color, to children and families and people with disabilities,” Weinstein outlined.