“We are running out of time to reverse course before the harmful and unprecedented cuts go into full effect,” says Kelemen. “Without action, SNAP will soon be in crisis at a time when too many families are already struggling with rising costs.”
Contact: Ryan Flaherty at rflaherty@strength.org
WASHINGTON, DC — House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson on Friday released text of his proposed Farm Bill, entitled the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, which reauthorizes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other key nutrition programs. The following is a statement from George Kelemen, senior vice president for Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign:
“The Farm Bill is a critical opportunity to reverse the damaging cuts to SNAP that Congress passed last year and take steps to strengthen and improve nutrition programs. Instead, this new proposal makes no effort to reverse these cuts, putting families at risk of losing access to grocery benefits and worsening the immense financial and administrative burden on states, rather than providing the relief that is needed.
“Even before the devastating SNAP cuts were signed into law last year, states have been working hard to improve their SNAP payment error rates, and they have been adjusting their state budgets in order to continue administering SNAP. But now states are being asked to do more with less on an unreasonable timeline, and this bill does not invest in the administrative resources and state workforce that will actually reduce error rates. The bill also does not address the stricter time limits passed by Congress that will force millions of Americans to lose SNAP without improving access to sustainable long term employment.
“We are running out of time to reverse course before the harmful and unprecedented cuts go into full effect. Without action, SNAP will soon be in crisis at a time when too many families are already struggling with rising costs.
“Families, farmers, small businesses, and communities across the country are all counting on Congress to protect SNAP. The Committee should reject the current proposal and use next week’s mark-up to produce a Farm Bill that mitigates the cuts and harmful changes to SNAP made by Congress last year, takes steps to modernize and strengthen the program, and ensures states can continue to administer SNAP so that millions of kids and families don’t lose access to the nutritious benefits it provides.”
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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.