House SNAP bill will harmlow-income Californians
From the perspective of a local food bank, the farm bill moving through the Senate is a welcome change from the version that the House rejected last month.
Rather than taking away food assistance from millions of people across the nation, the bipartisan Senate bill ensures that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will continue to help parents, seniors, people with disabilities and working people put food on the table.
SNAP is not just an anti-hunger program; it’s an anti-poverty program. Fifty-nine percent of the 110,000 recipients in Alameda County are children, and 11 percent are seniors. SNAP brought $192 million in 100 percent federally funded benefits to the county in 2016.
There has long been a bipartisan consensus to protect and strengthen this program. Senators Harris and Feinstein should fight for the Senate bill’s SNAP provisions and reject the House’s partisan version that would harm so many low-income Californians.
Stephen KnightPolicy DirectorAlameda County Community Food BankOakland
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