John,

The House Committee on Agriculture voted late Thursday to approve a Farm Bill that cuts nearly $30 billion in future SNAP benefits―harming millions of low-income households nationwide.  

Thankfully, there is also a Senate version of the Farm Bill that strengthens SNAP by reducing barriers for older adults, military families, reentering citizens, and some college students; addresses farmworker safety; and establishes a path for Puerto Rico to eventually participate in the SNAP program.

Already, we’ve sent more than 20,000 messages to Congress this week to reject the draconian House version of the Farm Bill and instead pass the Senate version, which protects millions of low-income people and children.

Rush a donation to keep the pressure on Congress to reject tens of billions of dollars in cuts to nutrition assistance, which is harmful to the health and development of millions of people nationwide.

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Together, through grassroots activism and in-person lobbying on the Hill, we’re demanding Congress not leave vulnerable communities behind.

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Last night the House Committee on Agriculture voted to approve a new Farm Bill that would threaten the health of nearly 41.4 million people who rely on nutrition assistance to purchase food.¹

The Farm Bill is an omnibus, multi-year bill that not only supports farmers, but tackles climate change through conservation efforts and supports nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).²

The proposed House bill would change SNAP for the worse, slashing nutrition benefits by nearly $30 billion over the next 10 years. In addition to SNAP, other programs such as Summer EBT benefits for children and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) would lose badly needed funding that allows for the purchase of healthier foods according to the latest scientific knowledge.³ How short-sighted: failure to invest in access to healthy foods will make people sick, young and old alike, and rising health care costs and lost work will wipe out the false “savings” of this bill.

This is completely unacceptable. We’re fighting back against foolhardy cuts to nutrition programs, which would harm millions of low-income households across the country. The House committee vote is one bad step in a long process; we can prevent it from becoming law with your help.  

Rush a donation today to fight back against the cruel House version of the Farm Bill.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a $30 billion cut over the 2027-2033 period would result in:⁴

• An $18 billion cut in benefits to households with children, which would affect 17 million children per month.

• A $9 billion cut to households with children under the age of 5; affecting about 5 million children per month.

• A $5 billion cut to households with adults age 60 and over; affecting 6 million seniors per month.

• A $6 billion cut to households with people with disabilities; affecting 4 million disabled people per month.

• An $11 billion cut to working families and households.

Food security is linked to so much more than just reducing hunger. It has health, life, and work benefits that affect every aspect of our lives. SNAP must allow families to maintain healthy diets, which in turn leads to long-term positive health outcomes.⁵

No one should go without enough healthy food in the richest country in the world. Yet, if certain lawmakers in the House of Representatives have their way, that’s exactly what will happen.

Donate $5 to help us fight back against cuts to essential nutrition programs in the Farm Bill.

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Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ How Does the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Impact Households’ SNAP Benefits?
² Why the U.S. Farm Bill Matters
³ Chair Thompson’s Plan Would Cut SNAP Benefits and Ignore Scientific Evidence in Thrifty Food Plan Updates
⁴ Chair Thompson’s Plan Would Cut SNAP Benefits and Ignore Scientific Evidence in Thrifty Food Plan Updates CBPP analysis of Chair’s proposed cut, CBO’s May 2023 baseline (with CBPP adjustments to account for actual inflation figures for the June 2023 TFP), USDA fiscal year 2020 pre-pandemic SNAP household characteristics data, and USDA fiscal year 2023 SNAP administrative data. Demographic groups are not mutually exclusive.
⁵ SNAP Linked to Better Health Throughout Life and Lower Health Care Costs