John,

Negotiations around the 2023 Farm Bill are heating up as extremists in the House of Representatives push to expand harsh time limits and make drastic funding cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in their quest to cut people from receiving nutritional assistance.

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) -- who sits on the House Agriculture Committee -- has introduced legislation that would expand from age 49 through age 64 the people who are limited to only 3 months of aid if they cannot meet burdensome work requirements for SNAP benefits, putting grocery assistance out of reach for millions of people.¹ The bill also for the first time subjects parents or grandparents with children 7 years or older to this harsh time limit (now, adults with any minor child are exempt).

If this were to pass, the loss of benefits for the adults means their whole household will see a substantial drop in money for food. More than 10 million SNAP recipients -- including 4 million children -- are at risk of losing nutritional assistance under Rep. Johnson’s proposed legislation.²

SNAP remains the most effective tool this country has to combat hunger for children and families, adults with disabilities, and veterans. We cannot allow right-wing extremists to push their immoral agenda and make 4 million children hungrier in the wealthiest country in the world. Chip in $5 today to fund the fight to protect SNAP benefits for millions of people.

SNAP is already extremely restrictive for people aged 18-49 who don’t have dependent children; they can receive SNAP for no more than three months in three years unless they can show they are working 20 hours a week. The majority are already working in jobs that pay wages so low and sporadically enough that they need SNAP benefits to fill in the gaps between their wages and record high food prices.

If Congress wants to reduce the number of people who receive SNAP, there are much better ways to achieve that goal than draconian funding cuts. They can pass legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour or more, invest in expanding Medicaid and housing vouchers so that people have more money to spend on food, or they could institute a federal free meals program in every elementary, middle, and high school in the United States.

The communities that have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, record inflation, and skyrocketing housing costs are the ones who will suffer the most under funding cuts to SNAP. During the pandemic we hailed the grocery store workers, custodians, and the food preparation workers as heroes. Let’s ensure they receive the benefits they deserve.

Rush a contribution today to fight back against cuts to SNAP benefits and ensure, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, that no one goes hungry.

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Thank you for all you do to fight for economic justice,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

[1] The SNAP fight playbook
[2] House Republicans’ Proposals Could Take Food Away From Millions of Low-Income Individuals and Families