The Farm Bill is back at the top of Congress’s priority list and that means our nation’s most effective anti-hunger tool, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) is being debated.
In the first week of May, both House and Senate Agriculture Committees released more details on their Farm Bill proposals, which differ on their approach to supporting food insecure Americans through SNAP. Below is a quick summary of the proposals and why we hope you’ll join us in encouraging our Nebraska lawmakers to choose NOT to cut SNAP.
The Senate Agriculture Committee released their Farm Bill proposal that strengthens and protects SNAP now and in the future. Also, the bill…
☑️ Removes the lifetime ban for people with drug felony convictions nationwide,
☑️ Supports college students, foster youth, and military families with positive changes,
☑️ Increases funding for Double Up Food Bucks, a program that allows SNAP participants to purchase healthy fruits and vegetables by doubling their SNAP dollars on these items.
While the House Agriculture Committee’s proposed Farm Bill takes a few steps forward in line with its Senate companion, this draft proposal takes significant steps back by cutting SNAP. Specifically, the bill…
❌ Cuts future changes to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which helps determine SNAP benefit amounts. This change, which results in a $30B spending reduction over 10 years, is touted by proponents as “not a cut to SNAP”.
❌ Adds unnecessary and costly fraud prevention mechanisms to a program that has misuse rates of around 1%.
Around 155,000 Nebraskans rely on SNAP to put food on the table. We expect to learn more in the coming weeks when the House bill is likely introduced and the House Committee on Agriculture reviews it. At that time, we’ll need your help to remind our members of Congress that we want food on the table, NOT cuts to SNAP. Thank you for your engagement on this critical issue!