To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Keep cars for jobs
Stop the proposed elimination of car ownership as a condition to receiving SNAPs(food) or TANF(cash) assistance! We need cars to find jobs, get to job training, work nontraditional hours, get around in rural and some suburban areas and finally get to the opportunities that may lead to our independence.
Why is this important?
One of the austerity measures proposed as a remedy to the fiscal cliff suggests that if families wish to qualify for any SNAP or TANF funds they must sell their cars and rely on public transportation. This is an absurdist reaction. For one thing there are countless families that live in rural or suburban areas where there simply is NO mass transit. For another thing, a car can be one of the first items a prospective employer asks about, "Do you have reliable transportation?" While a car valued at over $30,000 might be unfeasible, allowing families who are striving to regain their independence one or two older vehicles doesn't seem contradictory to the idea of being able to get to interviews, job training, and once employed to drop children off at care and get to that job. In addition, seniors and the disabled who are able to drive and on assistance, should be allowed the ability to get to their doctors, grocers and again often live where mass transit is not feasible.