Take Action: Call members of Congress (202-224-3121) and urge them to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the farm bill and reject the proposed funding cuts.
Members of Congress in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are currently negotiating over the final version of the farm bill (H.R. 2642), the law that authorizes our country’s farm and food policies. This includes consideration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
Starting in November, Congress allowed part of the SNAP funding to expire, cutting on average about $10 per person, per month, from funds that support our country’s most vulnerable individuals. At the current level of funding, SNAP benefits amount to only about $1.40 per person, per meal.
During the current negotiations, the House is attempting to cut another $40 billion from SNAP, denying food assistance to nearly 3 million of the most vulnerable Americans under the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3102). The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights strongly opposes the provisions in H.R. 3102,because they would have a devastating impact on young children, students, older people, the jobless, the hungry, and the uninsured.
For a family that is choosing between buying groceries and paying rent, SNAP matters; and according to a new report from the Half in Ten campaign, SNAP is efficient and effective in helping families escape from poverty. It is inhumane to propose cuts that would harm vulnerable Americans the most.
Take Action: Call members of Congress (202-224-3121) and urge them to protect SNAP in the farm bill and reject the proposed funding cuts.