From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
We hope you are enjoying the final days of summer! While we’re enjoying these last few days with our families, we still have our eyes on Washington, D.C. and what’s going to happen once the U.S. Congress returns in September.
Next week, U.S. Senators and Representatives will be back in D.C. and they need to take care of one very important piece of legislation before they leave again in October for the midterm elections: The Farm Bill! [1] The Farm Bill is the piece of legislation that funds SNAP (food stamps). SNAP helps 1 in 8 Americans across the country afford groceries. [2] Super important, right?
We want to send a loud, strong, important message in the form of our local newspapers to our U.S. Senators and Representatives! When they return to Washington, D.C. next week, we want to make sure Congress passes a Farm Bill that protects SNAP from cuts and harmful changes, like work requirements, which particularly impact people who are ill, have disabilities, caregiving responsibilities or who are escaping domestic abuse.
Please take a quick and critical action and send a letter to the editor to your local paper speaking out to protect SNAP at https://action.momsrising.org/lte/SNAP_LTE/. (Don’t worry—we made it super easy for you. Just click here and we’ll walk you through the steps).
Here’s what’s going on right now with the Farm Bill:
The good: The U.S. Senate heard your outcry against any harmful changes to food stamps, and voted to protect SNAP in their version of the Farm Bill. [3] On top of that Republicans and Democrats are still standing firm on their commitment to protect SNAP as the Farm Bill moves forward in conference. That type of bipartisan commitment is not seen very often these days, and it’s because of people like you who have written, called, shared their stories, and spoken out on the importance of SNAP to our families and our economy that has urged Senators in this direction.
The bad: Things are totally different on the House of Representatives’ side. The House GOP leadership refused to listen to moms, dads, and other constituents who spoke out against their destructive Farm Bill, which takes away SNAP from millions of families and enforces strict work requirements. [4] Despite the fact that the Farm Bill was defeated on the floor of the U.S. House in May, they scheduled a revote of the bill in early summer, which passed by a narrow margin. [5]
The hopeful: Because the two versions of the Farm Bill are so completely different, they are going to a Conference Committee to work out the differences. Even though President Trump is putting the pressure on Republicans (through Twitter of course!) to pass the horrible, terrible, and unnecessary work requirements, so far the Senators on the Conference Committee are standing strong and saying they will not accept any bill that has additional barrier to access, especially in the form of work requirements. [6]
(Note: Work requirements already exist in SNAP for some recipients—and most SNAP recipients already work! [7] What’s being proposed though will fundamentally change this vital food assistance program forever and would be truly harmful to millions of families, not to mention our economy).
The entire premise of these new restrictions— that somehow people who use SNAP are lazy — is dead wrong. Fact: Most adults on SNAP work. More than half of SNAP households with at least one working-age, non-disabled adult work while receiving SNAP — and more than 80 percent work in the year before or after receiving SNAP. [8] Among those who are not working, most report illness or disability, caregiving responsibilities, being recently divorced, escaping an abusive relationship, or going to school as a reason for not working.
There is a lot happening this September (a Supreme Court nomination, immigration, end of the year budgeting, and who knows who else might be arrested!) so we need YOU to help cut through the noise and let members of Congress know we need them to prioritize a Farm Bill that protects our families and our economy by protecting SNAP!
You taking a moment to write a Letter to the Editor now will send a strong signal to Congress that their constituents are concerned about the future of SNAP. Plus: Members of Congress pay special attention to their local newspapers!
Send a letter to your local paper NOW speaking out to protect SNAP!
We want to flood our local newspapers with Letters to the Editors NOW so members of Congress know that protecting SNAP must be a top priority when they return to work in September.
Don’t worry—sending the Letter to the Editor is super easy! When you click on the link above, we’ll lead you through a quick process to write a Letter to the Editor to your local newspaper. This tool is pretty magical—you can easily edit our pre-drafted letter, if you wish (inserting your personal story if you have one!), and send it to your paper with just a few clicks.
The pre-drafted letter (which you can edit when you click through to the link!) simply says:
“When Congress returns to D.C. next week they must prioritize the health and nutrition of our families by passing protections for SNAP (food stamps) in the Senate’s bipartisan, common-sense Farm Bill.
Unlike the House of Representatives’ Farm Bill, the Senate version protects our families from harmful and unnecessary barriers to access, like burdensome work requirements which adversely impact people who are disabled, sick, have caregiving responsibilities, or who are escaping an abusive relationship.
Nearly 70% of SNAP participants are in families with children. Research shows children who benefit from SNAP are likelier to have better health and educational outcomes as adults. The last thing American families and our economy need are policies that are balanced on the backs of our nation’s families or so-called “welfare reform” packages that will keep us from putting food on the table for our children. After all, investments in SNAP pay off! The Congressional Budget Office found that SNAP has one of the largest “bang-for-the-buck” among a broad range of policies for stimulating economic growth and creating jobs.
Our elected leaders can help our families be strong and healthy by adopting the Senate’s SNAP provisions in the Farm Bill.”
After you send your own letter to the editor, please forward this email to your friends and post the action link on Facebook. The more of us who send letters and speak out, the better! We need to let our members of Congress know that SNAP is important to our families and we are keeping an eye on this bill.
**Don’t forget to take a moment to send a Letter to the Editor to your local paper now.
Thank you for being a strong voice for our families’ health and nutrition!
P.S. Your stories are a big part of the reason we have been so successful in protecting SNAP! MomsRising is launching a new storytelling series called We Are MomsRising, where we will be telling stories about how programs (like SNAP) help working families, and the realities of being a mom in 2018—the good, the bad, and the hilarious! Check out one of our first stories by Alabama mom Heather about how her family was lifted up by SNAP during a difficult time: https://action.momsrising.org/go/38402?t=13&akid=11142%2E2540879%2EDUBZeh.
Do you want to be part of this exciting new project? Awesome! You can share your story here.
[1] Barry Amudson. “First Farm Bill conference meeting for Sept. 5.” Agweek, August 21, 2018. [2] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “SNAP Helps Millions of Children.” April 26, 2017. [3] Ed Kilgore. “Senate Clears Farm Bill, Setting Up Fight with House GOP Over SNAP.” New York Magazine, June 28, 2018. [4] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “House Committee Farm Bill Would Increase Food Insecurity and Hardship.” June 13, 2018. [5] Brakkton Booker. “House Passes Farm Bill With Controversial Work Requirements.” NPR, June 21, 2018. [6] Nathaniel Weixel. “Trump calls for food stamp work requirements in farm bill.” The Hill, August 2, 2018. [7] Sarah Reinhardt. “SNAP already has work requirements. Adding more won’t solve poverty.” Union of Concerned Scientists, April 12, 2018. [8] Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “SNAP Helps Struggling Families Put Food on the Table.” March 1, 2017.
Leave a Reply