FRAC Statement: If It’s Not Broken, Why Fix It? Draft Farm Bill Puts Unnecessary Burdens on Low-Income People
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — the nation’s most critical anti-hunger program — primarily supports working families earning low wages, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway’s (R-TX) draft farm bill, seeks to erode the effectiveness of SNAP in ensuring that those who struggle against hunger can afford to put food on the table. The proposals in this bill would lead to greater hunger and poverty among all types of beneficiary families, including the working poor, as well as reduced economic growth and productivity in communities across the country.
FRAC’s Review of President’s Proposed FY 2019 Budget
On Monday, February 12, President Trump released his FY 2019 budget proposal. One key component: devastating proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that reflect a total disregard of the critical role SNAP plays as a first line of defense against hunger and poverty for tens of millions of Americans. Check out a statement from FRAC President Jim Weill. For a summary of proposed reductions to SNAP and an overview of how other critical nutrition and social safety net programs fare in the president’s budget, check out FRAC’s newly released analysis (pdf).
ON THE HILL
- 2018 Farm Bill letter to House and Senate Budget and Appropriations CommitteesFRAC is proud to have played a leadership role in developing and garnering support for this letter (pdf) urging the House and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees not to “hinder development and passage of the 2018 Farm Bill with further cuts.”
- SNAP Support Letters
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FRAC Response to Dangerous House FY2018 Budget Resolution - Advocates Urged to Take Immediate Action
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Read FRAC’s Farm Bill Primer
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Prohibit Lunch Shaming: Endorse S. 1064 and H.R. 2401
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Read MoreThe Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2017
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Recent Publications & Data
See More Resources- Fact Sheet
At the end of the community eligibility four-year cycle, school districts must reestablish their identified student percentage (ISP) to continue operating community eligibility. Those that no longer meet the 40 percent-eligibility threshold, but have an ISP of at least 30 percent, can continue to operate community eligibility for an additional year, called the “grace year.”
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The School Breakfast Program ensures 12.1 million low-income students across the country start their school day ready to learn. School breakfast is particularly important for low-income students in rural communities who are more likely than their peers in metropolitan areas to live in food-insecure households, and, who often face additional barriers to accessing the program.
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- Fact Sheet
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s first line of defense against hunger, is critically important for rural America. In addition to improving the food security, health, and well-being of participating families, federal SNAP dollars stimulate rural economies through assistance that goes directly to struggling families to purchase food.
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FRAC has joined with a diverse group of national organizations to launch the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign to expand affordable housing options for America’s most vulnerable communities.
Over the past several years, more health care systems and individual providers have recognized their role in identifying and addressing the food security needs of their patients.
Once school lets out for the day, many children from struggling households face the possibility of going hungry until they are back at school for breakfast. Tight family budgets and parents’ work schedules can mean students will leave school without knowing supper is guaranteed at home.