Contact: Johanna Elsemore at jelsemore@strength.org
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congress passed a continuing resolution that ends the longest government shutdown in history, extending all federal funding through January 30. The package also included three full-year appropriations bills, including funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making funding available for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women and Children (WIC) through September 2026. The following is a statement from Anne Filipic, chief executive officer for Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign:
“Today’s agreement brings an end to an unnecessary hunger crisis created by an unprecedented lapse in SNAP benefits. We are pleased the package to re-open the government included full year funding for critical nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC, providing families with the much needed certainty they deserve.
“These past weeks have proven just how critical SNAP is for the nearly 42 million Americans who use it to afford groceries. We heard from parents who, without their November SNAP benefits, were forced to make impossible tradeoffs like whether to turn the heat on in their homes or buy groceries. Retailers told us they feared the loss of SNAP benefits would be felt throughout the supply chain, from fewer deliveries of fresh food, more spoiled products on the shelves, and potential closures of stores.
“Now that the shutdown has come to an end, USDA must provide the necessary guidance to states to ensure every eligible family receives their full November SNAP benefits as quickly as possible.
“The harsh reality is, even with the government re-open and full year funding secured, SNAP recipients are still at risk as the $200 billion in cuts to the program passed last summer begin to go into effect. If these historic nutrition cuts aren’t reversed, much of the harm we just witnessed will become a permanent reality.
“During the shutdown, elected officials across the political spectrum championed legislation to ensure families could continue to receive SNAP, recognizing its importance to their constituents and local economies alike. We urge this same bipartisan spirit in the fight ahead to roll back the harmful cuts within H.R. 1, and ensure millions of Americans can continue to put food on the table for their families."
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty.