“States have made it clear they need more time and resources to reduce errors and protect access — not an insufficient delay paid for by greater long-term harm,” said Kelemen.
Contact: Ryan Flaherty, rflaherty@strength.org
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry voted to advance its version of the Farm Bill, which reauthorizes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other key nutrition and farm programs. While the bill includes a one-year delay to the SNAP benefit cost share, it also permanently increases the maximum SNAP benefit cost share which is a deeper cut to SNAP. The following is a statement from George Kelemen, senior vice president for Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign:
“Unfortunately, this Farm Bill misses the mark on SNAP. A one-year reprieve for states comes at the cost of a deeper, permanent cut to SNAP. States have made it clear they need more time and resources to reduce errors and protect access — not an insufficient delay paid for by greater long-term harm. This proposal puts the millions of children who are helped by SNAP at greater risk of hunger.
“Since Congress cut SNAP by almost $200 billion last year, 5 million people have already lost access to SNAP, including 1.2 million kids in just 25 states with available data. This is just the tip of the iceberg and it has real consequences that are being felt in communities around the country. As the rest of these cuts go into effect, they will not only impact kids receiving grocery benefits through SNAP but will create a ripple effect making it harder for kids to access all nutrition programs, including school meals.
“States need a delay now, not later as they are about to take on a massive increase in costs to continue providing SNAP. State legislative sessions are around the corner and must now account for millions of dollars previously provided by the federal government. This puts SNAP and other critical public services in danger of being cut, resulting in more children facing hunger.
“We appreciate the members of the Agriculture Committee who stood with kids by voting against this bill. Leadership in both the Senate and the House must make it a priority to include a full two-year delay to the benefit cost share without additional cuts to SNAP in any end-of-year legislation. We urge the Senate to continue to work to reach a bipartisan agreement and not move this version of the bill if it comes to the floor for a vote. Kids and families are counting on Congress to do the right thing.”
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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.