3.19.2015 Next week, Congress is poised to begin consideration of its FY2016 Budget Resolution – and SNAP (CalFresh in California) is being targeted. The SNAP program is one of the strongest federal programs in terms of its ability to respond to economic downturn and assist individuals and families in need. Yet, the very strengths of the program are at risk. Disastrous changes, such as block granting and benefit cuts, are currently under consideration as part of the Budget Resolution process. As we enter negotiations, it is fundamentally important that Congress take action to preserve and protect the very features of SNAP that make it the most effective tool for providing low-income Americans with resources for food.
Join CFPA in asking our California Congress members to support SNAP. There are three simple ways you can show your support:
1) SIGN AND SHARE THE “SUPPORT SNAP” PETITION!
Our friends at Food and Research Action Center (FRAC) are circulating a petition to show wide ranging national support for SNAP. Sign the petition today and share it broadly with your colleagues, professional networks, and friends. Join thousands nationwide and tell Congress you want an end to hunger in America, not ill-considered budget proposals that would increase it.
Sign and share the “Support SNAP” petition before March 24. link
Sample Tweet: Join @CAFoodPolicy, @fractweets, and thousands nationwide in urging Congress to support #SNAP #CalFresh. Sign this petition today. bit.ly/1FUaioE
2) E-MAIL OR CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
With both the House and Senate Budget Committees set to hold hearings on its FY2016 Budget Resolution in the next weeks, now is the time to weigh in! Email or call your representative and tell them to preserve and protect SNAP benefits for millions of low-income Californians by opposing any budget proposal intended to weaken the program or cut benefits. See the sample script below for more details.
Feel free to personalize and adapt the following script to use for an e-mail or a phone call:
My name is (name) and I live in (city), California. I am writing/calling to strongly urge you to speak out in the Budget Committee hearings and on the House floor in opposition to the House Budget Resolution’s proposal to block grant and deeply cut funding for SNAP. Between 2007 and 2013, SNAP caseloads grew significantly in response to the recession. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed the primary reason for the increase was the deep recession and the slow recovery. There were no significant legislative expansions of eligibility during this time.
SNAP responded as intended; providing low-income families with resources to avoid hunger and food insecurity during hard times. Now, as the economy improves, albeit slowly for some, caseloads have started falling and are projected to fall further. SNAP spending will subsequently decrease.
California’s Congressional delegation needs to take action to protect, if not strengthen SNAP so that it may continue to be the nation’s number one defense against hunger and food insecurity.
KEY MEMBERS TO CONTACT:
Representative Barbara Lee (CA-13) serving Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Piedmont and San Leandro.
Email: Colin.Foard@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-2661
Representative Ted Lieu (CA-33) serving Santa Monica, Rancho Palos Verdes, Torrance, Malibu, Beverly Hills.
Email: Megan.Price@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-3976
Representative Tom McClintock (CA-4) serving areas of the Sierras, including the following counties: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Tuolumne, and portions of Fresno, Madera, Nevada and Placer.
Email: Brittany.Madni@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-2511
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) serving most of Kern and Tulare Counties, and northeastern Los Angeles County, including the cities of Bakersfield, California City, Frazier Park, Kernville, Lake Isabella, Lancaster, Mojave, Porterville, Ridgecrest, Taft, and Tehachapi.
Email: kyle.lombardi@mail.house.gov
Phone: (202) 225-2915
Senate Minority Whip Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Email: Joaquin_Esquivel@boxer.senate.gov
Phone: (202) 224-3553
3) PARTICIPATE IN KEEP SNAP STRONG CALL-IN DAY, TUESDAY, MARCH 24
Call your Representatives and Senators and tell them to:
- preserve and protect SNAP;
- speak out on the floor in support of SNAP; and
- vote on behalf of constituents who rely on SNAP and other programs that help lift people out of poverty.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT:
House: The House budget resolution was approved Thursday, March 19, along a party line vote of 22-13. The bill will be on the floor for a vote by the full House during the week of March 23. During this time, Members will vote on amendments to the Bill.
The House budget converts SNAP to a block grant, and assumes cuts of $125 billion over 10 years.
Senate: The Senate Budget Committee approved its budget resolution on Thursday, March 19, along a party line vote of 12-10. Consideration by the full Senate will occur next week at the same time as the House floor action. Votes are expected in both chambers mid-week.
While the Senate budget proposal does not include “reconciliation instructions” for the Agriculture Committee, the proposal recommends massive potential cuts that are broad but unspecified, and could result in more than $1 trillion in cuts to social safety net and welfare programs, including SNAP, school lunch and other child nutrition programs.
Please share this call-to-action with your networks!
Questions? Contact Elyse Homel Vitale at 510.433.1122 ext. 206
