Comment to Say NO on Proposed Rule to Cut SNAP Benefits

From the Food Research and Action Center (http://www.frac.org):

We need your help once again to push back on the Administration’s latest attack on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s first line of defense against hunger.

The Latest: On October 3, 2019, USDA published another proposed rule that would cut SNAP benefits, this time a net total of $4.5 billion over five years. The cut would result from changes in how states take households’ utility costs into account in determining the amount of SNAP benefits for which they qualify. The proposed rule would:

Cut the power of SNAP for hungry households: Under current law, SNAP takes into account the utility expenses of each SNAP household. States adjust household benefits based on a state-specific Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) calculated by the state and approved by USDA. The current policy allows variances in SUAs to accommodate for differences in utility costs and rates, and allows states flexibility in how they calculate those costs. By changing how states take households’ utility costs into account, the proposed rule would cut SNAP benefit amounts for many hungry households.

Disproportionately impact vulnerable populations: The Administration concedes that the proposed rule would cause 19 percent of SNAP households to get lower SNAP monthly benefits, and would disproportionately impact elderly people and people with disabilities.

Sidesteps Congress: Congress reviewed SNAP policy during the 2018 Farm Bill, including the fact that states have options that may produce differences in SNAP eligibility benefit amounts from state to state. Although the President’s FY 2020 Budget included a request for a change similar to the proposed rule, Congress did not include such a change in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Say ‘No!’ to this proposed rule: Join FRAC in submitting comments against the proposed rule and in encouraging others to do so as well at https://frac.salsalabs.org/snap-sua/index.html. Our platform has resources and tools to help facilitate comment submissions. The public comment period ends on December 2, 2019.