TELL CONGRESS: Cutting SNAP Hurts Kids

 

SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is one of the most powerful tools we have to end childhood hunger. Today, 1 in 5 kids are supported by the food they receive through SNAP. But this critical program does much more than fill a child’s stomach. It helps them grow up smarter, stronger and healthier.

But right now, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering massive cuts to the SNAP program as part of its budget plans, and we need your help to make sure these kids and families don't lose access to the food they need.

Write to your members of Congress today. Your support can help ensure families are able to put food on the table.

Personalizing your letter below will go further. To make your message more effective, please share why it's important to you to support families and kids in your community.

 

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Cutting SNAP Hurts Kids

Dear [Decision Maker],



SNAP supplements a family's food budget and is a safe and effective way to feed children. But the food provided by SNAP does much more than fill a child's stomach. It helps kids grow up smarter, stronger and healthier, and that means a smarter, stronger and healthier nation.

As your constituent, I am strongly opposed to the following proposed policy changes and budget cuts for SNAP:

- Rolling back the current version of the Thrifty Food Plan and restricting future updates. The Thrifty Food Plan is the national standard for a nutritious diet at a minimal cost. In other words, it's an outline for the cheapest nutritious diet possible for a family to live on. Based on CBO projections, by rolling back the Thrifty Food Plan, 17 million kids, 6 million adults 60 years or older, and 4 million people with disabilities will see their SNAP benefits cut. Revisions to the Thrifty Food Plan are science-based and critical in helping SNAP benefits keep pace with the latest nutrition guidance and modern meal standards.

- Adding additional work requirements for SNAP participants. Current adult SNAP participants are already subject to two sets of work requirements: general work requirements and an additional stricter set of work requirements and time limits for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). The reality is any additional work requirements will only create more red tape and increase food insecurity and will not support or increase employment.

- Eliminating SNAP's Broad Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE). Restricting or eliminating this policy would be a massive step backwards in the fight to end childhood hunger and would lead to more kids being hungry. BBCE is not an automatic pathway to SNAP benefits. But it is an effective, practical policy that helps families enroll in SNAP if they'r'e already eligible for other anti-poverty programs. When you sync up the eligibility for these programs it reduces red tape, helps the working poor gradually decrease their SNAP benefits as their wages begin to grow, and automatically certifies kids whose families participate in SNAP for free school meals.

- Capping the dollar amount of SNAP benefits for households with 6 or more members. This unfairly penalizes larger and multigenerational families that fall on hard times, making it harder for more than 150,000 families to feed their children.

Policy changes and cutbacks on this scale will have very real and damaging impacts on our families, our communities, our economy, and a broad range of critical services your constituents may rely on in their everyday lives such as food and nutrition security. I encourage you to prioritize protecting SNAP and join me in opposing efforts to roll back access to important nutrition programs that help parents and caregivers put food on the table for their families.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]