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.
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.
The over the cliff edition. President Trump and Senate Republicans, exuberant over a certain Supreme Court vacancy but considerably less so when it comes to helping Americans to eat or pay rent, are prepared to push millions over the cliff. More than 13.4 million people currently receiving unemployment benefits stand to lose assistance come Dec. 31. Three out of every four states have run out of money to pay for Trump’s Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program. New poverty data shows the number of poor people in this country increasing dramatically since May. And, as always, not everyone is being tossed over the cliff equally. Black people and Latinx are more than twice as likely as white people to be poor. Both groups disproportionately work in industries hard-hit by the recession and may face barriers to aid – if it even exists.
We were apart, and yet for one splendid evening we were together. On the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 7, the Coalition on Human Needs held its 17th annual Human Needs Hero Reception. The event, organized by CHN Field and Events Coordinator Nicolai Haddal, was held virtually, for obvious reasons. That didn’t stop more than 100 of CHN’s friends, supporters, and allies, members and partners from coming together in celebration and camaraderie.
CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein this week called upon the U.S. Senate to reject the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing Barrett’s past rulings and statements in five main areas: access to health care, immigration, workers’ rights, antidiscrimination, and criminal justice. In her 7-page letter, Weinstein also objects strongly to the Senate’s rush to action on the Barrett nomination while refusing to take action on a COVID-19 relief bill.
“Altered state” edition. President Trump, infected by COVID-19 and then taking a number of powerful medications, called off COVID-19 negotiations, then urged continued talks for a limited package, then was quoted as calling for a bigger package. He was interviewed saying he was cured by his drugs, but that he might not have needed them, and suggested that he was not contagious – even as more than 30 people in his immediate orbit became infected. Speaker Pelosi, who was attempting to negotiate relief, speculated that the President was “in an altered state.” Hard to tell, but two themes were emerging: resistance to even compromise levels of state and local aid sought by Democrats and whipsaw reactions to Wall Street downturns, as stocks plunged whenever it appeared there would be no deal.
This election is too important to wait until the last moment. We all must take extra effort to plan ahead. We all must make sure we don’t let this opportunity to stand up for our shared priorities and vote to protect human needs go by. We can’t afford not to vote
The Americans are broke edition. Nearly 180 million Americans face the possibility of having their utilities cut off. More and more can’t make rent or put food on the table. Just yesterday, more airline workers lost their jobs than at any point in U.S. aviation history. And at Disney, once the “happiest place on Earth,” 28,000 just-laid-off workers aren’t so happy. State governments are facing a combined shortfall of $555 billion over the next few years. It is not too late to tell Senators to do the jobs they were elected to do – protect the American people.
It’s no surprise that a rising number of Americans are turning towards the government for financial support. Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen ways of furloughs and layoffs; while some jobs have returned, the nation’s economic outlook remains dire. Still, the Senate delays action on extending assistance. To delay desperately needed relief by choosing to leave Washington when so many people are facing loss of earnings and hunge shows a remarkable lack of concern during a time of great and dire need.
On March 18, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it would largely be halting immigration enforcement in response to the spread of COVID-19 and noted that immigrants should not avoid seeking health care for fear of deportation. Despite the very damaging threats to public health, ICE resumed immigration enforcement in mid-July. Just last month, ICE arrested Alicia Flores Gonzalez, a mother of four U.S. citizen children, and within 24 hours ICE deported her from the country. Ms. Flores was apprehended by immigration enforcement after dropping her daughter off at child care and going to work.
On Friday, Sept. 25, CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate imploring Senators to pass robust COVID-19 legislation before they leave Washington.
The abandonment edition. It is becoming increasingly evident that Sen. Mitch McConnell and his GOP colleagues are prepared to abandon their constituents in their time of dire need. They have resisted a vote on a robust COVID-19 aid package. Senators are planning to leave town – and look at the carnage they are leaving behind in the wake of their hasty retreat. More than 200,000 deaths – roughly one in every 1,600 people in the U.S. has died of COVID-19 — and on Friday the U.S. eclipsed 7 million confirmed cases. Progress in slowing the march of the pathogen has stalled. Twenty-eight states plus Puerto Rico have shown increases in the seven-day average of new cases since the final week of August.
In March, when the United States shut down due to coronavirus, the upcoming election was pushed to the back burner in the minds of many as people struggled to be financially secure and stop the spread of the virus. Many months later, individuals are still grappling with the lack of federal resources, students have begun virtual learning, large social gatherings are still being avoided, and masks have become the new normal everywhere. As the Nov. 3 election approaches in the unexpected midst of COVID-19, we need to ask: will voting at the polls be safe?
The 200,000 deaths edition. Within days, the death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. will surpass 200,000. At some point we have to ask Sen. Mitch McConnell and his obstinate band of Republican cohorts, how many lives is too many? And how long and how deeply must our nation suffer? Unemployed Americans already have lost the $600 weekly UI benefit that expired at the end of July. Now millions of Americans are seeing their state UI paychecks vanish as well, as 26-week time limits expire. A child care crisis is unfolding before our very eyes, as many people cannot go back to work without access to affordable child care. Overburdened state and local governments are cutting programs right and left, even though we need more investment, not less. And still: not a dime from the U.S. Senate.
