To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Don’t Let Republicans Cut Food Assistance Programs for Low Income Americans

The 2018 farm bill must strengthen—not cut—food assistance programs for low income Americans.

Why is this important?

Just months after passing a massive tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, House Republicans are proposing to reduce food assistance benefits for 2 million people, many of which are low-income working families with children.

For more than 15 years, state and federal policymakers have worked on a bipartisan basis to strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is the country’s most effective anti-hunger program, helping 1 in 8 Americans afford a basic diet. More than 6 million people with disabilities are estimated to participate in the program, including 4 million non-elderly adults who receive disability benefits, close to another 2 million who don’t receive disability benefits but have work-limiting health conditions, and many children.

The House Republican plan will reduce or eliminate benefits for more than 2 million people through significant cuts to SNAP and expanded work requirements that take benefits away from people who don’t meet them.

However, the Senate’s bipartisan bill strengthens SNAP and expands promising approaches to job training and other employment-related activities for SNAP participants and would make targeted investments in SNAP to help seniors and people with disabilities, as well as Native American Tribes.

The next step in the legislative process is a “conference” between the House and Senate proposals. During the conference, lawmakers will decide whether to take House Republicans proposal to cut SNAP or the bipartisan Senate proposal to strengthen it.

That’s why it’s incredibly important that we push Congress RIGHT NOW to pass a farm bill that would support and strengthen SNAP — not make it harder for people to access crucial nutrition assistance.

Please join with us and tell Congress that the 2018 farm bill must strengthen the SNAP food assistance program for low income Americans.

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Source: https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/house-farm-bill-would-increase-food-insecurity-and-hardship