Visit Road to the Farm Bill for FRAC’s Farm Bill priority legislation. Check out FRAC’s Bills We’re Supporting page for additional priorities for families struggling against hunger.

Food Research & Action Center Applauds Congress for Releasing FY 2024 Spending Bill to Fully Fund WIC, Rejecting Harmful SNAP Policy Rider

“At a crucial juncture, Congress on March 3, 2024 released a final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Agriculture Appropriations package, securing $7.030 billion in critical funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a lifeline for nearly 7 million pregnant and postpartum women and young children, including approximately half of all infants born in the U.S. By rejecting a substantial number of harmful policy riders, which included efforts to restrict SNAP benefits — a proposal which received widespread, bipartisan criticism, Congress has also shown a commitment to the health, well-being, and dignity of millions of families.” Read more in FRAC’s statement,

House Passes Tax Proposal Including Child Tax Credit Enhancements in Bipartisan Vote

“FRAC applauds the House for swiftly and overwhelmingly passing the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, a vital step in expanding the Child Tax Credit and addressing our nation’s child hunger crisis. The bill’s enhancements to the tax credit will benefit 16 million children currently left out of receiving the full or any credit, and will lift 400,000 above the poverty line. Investing in families is crucial to ending hunger and fostering a more prosperous society. We now urge the Senate to expedite this legislation without amendments – hungry families can’t wait.”

– FRAC President Luis Guardia

Action Needed: Urge Congress to Pass an Improved Child Tax Credit

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has indicated his intent to bring the bipartisan, bicameral Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act to the floor for a vote as early as tomorrow. The legislation, which contains important improvements and expansions to the Child Tax Credit (CTC), is expected to proceed under an expedited process that will require a two-thirds vote, with no amendments.

Action Needed!

1. Advocates are urged to contact their House Members (Capitol Switchboard: 202-225-3121) and ask them to vote “yes” on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act due to the bill’s improvements to the CTC.

2. Once passed, quickly call your Senators and urge them to vote “yes” and reject any amendments that could weaken or limit the impact the CTC would have for families struggling against hunger and poverty.

3. Use and circulate FRAC’s CTC FAN to send a letter to your Members of Congress today.

Background

Under this bill, approximately 16 million out of the 19 million children currently left out of the full or any CTC will benefit, and an estimated 400,000 children will be lifted above the poverty line. Action must happen swiftly for more families with children struggling to make ends meet to benefit from these enhanced tax credits this tax season.

While this tax package does not include the comprehensive CTC improvements made through the American Rescue Plan, it is an important first step in addressing our nation’s hunger crisis. The expanded 2021 CTC was a proven tool for addressing hunger and poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after it expired at the start of 2022, households with children reported a 25 percent increase in not having enough to eat.

Please share this message with your state and local partners and urge them to contact their Members of Congress today.

  • State fact sheets: here
  • FRAC Research Brief: here

Use the FRAC Action Network

WIC Funding Must Be Increased and Fully Funded in the Final FY 2024 Agriculture Spending Bill 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is facing a dire threat. Congress recently passed a continuing resolution (CR), H.R. 6363, that averted a government shutdown, but failed to include any additional funding for WIC. This latest CR continues the authority for states to spend their funds faster to cover higher participation rates. Fortunately, this means that states should be able to continue serving every eligible family who seeks benefits, at least for now. The spending bill employs a “laddered” approach authored by House Speaker Johnson (R-LA), that establishes two expiration dates for different funding bills – the agriculture spending bill (which includes WIC) falls under the shorter deadline of Jan. 19.  

Top Line Ask: Congress has failed so far to provide the funding WIC needs for FY 2024 to protect participation and benefits once the current CR expires. Without the full funding needed above the levels in the pending House and Senate bills, states will likely be forced to turn 2 million eligible low-income postpartum women and young children away from WIC, undermining their health. Congress must act decisively to provide full funding for WIC in the January legislation to fund agriculture and nutrition programs in FY 2024 

Take action nowto keep our nation’s pregnant and postpartum women with low incomes and their infants, and young children well-nourished and fed. 

  • Use the FRAC Action Network to send an email message directly to your Members of Congress to fully fund WIC in the final FY 2024 appropriations package. 
  • Review FRAC’s WIC factsheet for more on the many benefits of WIC and the current funding crisis. 

Background: As a result of increased program participation and the rising cost of food, annual funding bills proposed in both the House and Senate fail to provide sufficient funding to serve WIC’s projected number of participants and provide them with the full benefitIf Congress fails to close this funding shortfall for WIC, it will break an over 25-year-old bipartisan commitment to fully fund WIC and ensure that eligible low-income women and young children who apply for WIC can participate and benefit from the program’s valuable nutrition and health benefits 

House and Senate negotiations on the final agriculture funding bill for FY 2024 could start in the next few weeks, so now is the critical window of opportunity to ensure policymakers will fully fund WIC to protect participation and benefits for millions of new mothers with low incomes and their young children. If Congress fails to fully fund WIC and continues WIC’s funding level for the rest of the fiscal year, WIC would face a roughly $1 billion shortfall in 2024 and states would need to reduce WIC participation by about 2 million young children and pregnant and postpartum adults by September 2024, according to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  

Action Needed: Urge Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor SNAP Priority Legislation in Upcoming Farm Bill

Join advocates from across the country in urging Members of Congress to support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by cosponsoring anti-hunger priority legislation to be considered in the upcoming Farm Bill.

Action needed: Urge Congress to protect and strengthen SNAP in the upcoming Farm Bill by supporting and cosponsoring the following legislation:

  • The Improving Access to Nutrition Act (H.R. 1510/S. 2435) would end harsh and arbitrary time limits on SNAP benefits for certain individuals and allow them to access the food, nutrition, and overall health benefits provided by the program. Bill highlights, House and Senate sponsors.
  • The Closing the Meal Gap Act (H.R. 3037/S. 1336) would base SNAP benefit allotments on the more adequate Low-Cost Food Plan, boost SNAP benefits for families with children forced to choose between food and shelter, increase benefits for older adults forced to choose between food and medicine, raise the SNAP minimum monthly benefit, and improve equitable access by extending SNAP to Puerto Rico (replacing the current block-granted Nutrition Assistance Program). Bill highlights, House and Senate cosponsors.
  • The Enhance Access to SNAP Act (EATS) (H.R. 3183/S. 1488) would eliminate the barriers that college students face when accessing SNAP. Bill highlights, House and Senate cosponsors.
  • The Hot Foods Act (H.R. 3519/S. 2258) would end the prohibition on use of SNAP benefits to purchase hot prepared foods from food retailers. Bill highlights, House and Senate cosponsors.
  • The Lift the Bar Act (H.R. 4170/S. 2038) would eliminate the five-year bar (waiting period) for legal permanent immigrants to access SNAP and other federal programs. Bill highlights, House and Senate cosponsors.
  • The Restore Act (H.R. 3479/S. 1753) would repeal the lifetime federal ban on individuals with felony drug convictions from receiving SNAP. Bill highlights, House and Senate cosponsors.

For more information on engaging your Members of Congress, contact Vijay Das, vdas@frac.org, or Tim Klipp-Lockhart, tklipp-lockhart@frac.org. For information on SNAP, contact Gina Plata-Nino, gplata-nino@frac.org.

Use the FRAC Action Network

FRAC Statement for the House Democratic Task Force on Agriculture and Nutrition in the 21st Century

Read FRAC’s statement to the House Democratic Task Force on Agriculture and Nutrition in the 21st Century for 2023 Farm Bill recommendations to improve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and systematically tackle hunger in the United States. Delivered at the Task Force’s 2023 Farm Bill Roundtable on July 13, 2023.

Read FRAC's statement

FRAC’s Road to the Farm Bill Resource Center

Visit FRAC’s Road to the Farm Bill page to discover priority SNAP legislation, Farm Bill talking points, critical actions, and much more.

Learn more

2023 Farm Bill Leave Behind: Congress Must Protect and Strengthen SNAP, TEFAP, and Other Anti-Hunger Programs

SNAP is the cornerstone of the nation’s nutrition and food security safety net, helping to put food on the table for 42 million participants with low incomes each month. Congress should protect SNAP’s structure and funding, and strengthen SNAP. Use this leave behind to inform your Members of Congress about the critical importance of SNAP, TEFAP, and other anti-hunger programs.

Download the leave behind

FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (‘Omnibus’) Legislative Summary

On December 23, Congress passed the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government through fiscal year 2023. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill, one of 12 subcommittee bills contained in the omnibus spending package, provides $25.5 billion — an increase of $737 million, 3 percent above fiscal year (FY) 2022 — to fund U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. The committee highlights can be found here and a division-by-division summary of the bill is here.

It is important to note that one offset (funding mechanism) for certain provisions in the legislation was a premature cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Emergency Allotments (EAs). This cut will hasten the hunger cliff for millions of people with low incomes as soon as March 2023 (as opposed to the end of the duration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration). For more on the SNAP EAs cuts, go to Food Research & Action Center’s statement.

Learn more in FRAC’s full FY 2023 Omnibus Legislative Summary.

Congress Passes Bipartisan, Bicameral Keep Kids Fed Act

On Friday, June 24, 2022, Congress passed the Keep Kids Fed Act (S. 2089), a bipartisan and bicameral bill to help mitigate the impact of the loss of the child nutrition waivers due to expire next Thursday, June 30, 2022. This bill is an important first step that would increase reimbursements to schools and child care centers, support access to summer meals, and streamline access to healthy meals for children in family child care. Learn more in this blog post

Congressional Calendar

Explore the 2023 House and Senate calendars.

Budget Reconciliation 101

Curious about Budget Reconciliation? Unsure about the process or special rules to look out for? Explore this three-page report that explains what you need to know.

Read FRAC's Budget Reconciliation 101

Sign Up for the FRAC Action Network!

Urge your Representatives to support and strengthen the Federal Nutrition Programs. Learn about the latest opportunities for action by signing up for the FRAC Action Network. Hungry people can’t wait.

Sign Up Now

Recent Publications & Data

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FRAC Chat

Mar 13, 2024
LaMonika Jones, Director of DC Hunger Solutions

This week, March 11–16, we join the National CACFP Sponsors Association, program providers, and community partners in celebrating Food Program (CACFP). CACFP is a federally funded assistance program that provides reimbursements for nutritious meals and snacks to those in eligible child care and day care centers.
As we near closer to the release of the District’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, it is imperative that community partners, program providers, and parents advocate for the ongoing funding for early childhood nutrition programs, especially CACFP.

Mar 11, 2024
Clarissa Hayes, Deputy Director, Child Nutrition Programs & Policy

This week, March 10–16, is CACFP Week!

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) is joining the National CACFP Sponsors Association and other partners in raising awareness and celebrating the important role this program plays in combatting hunger and bringing healthy foods to children in child care homes, centers, and afterschool programs across the country.

Feb 15, 2024

Five states had Healthy School Meals for All policies in place during the 2022-2023 school year and the Food Research & Action Center’s (FRAC) new report, The State of Healthy School Meals for All: California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and Vermont Lead the Way, highlights the positive impact they had on students and school nutrition departments.
School meals have always played an important role in reducing childhood hunger, supporting good nutrition, and ensuring that students can get the most out of their school day. For more than two school years during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were able to offer meals to all students at no charge through the pandemic-related child nutrition waivers offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This served as a trial run for nationwide Healthy School Meals for All, and it was a resounding success.