Deadline: September 23 –
On July 24, 2019, the administration announced plans to disqualify three million Americans from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, informally known as food stamps) by taking away states’ ability to expand eligibility rules beyond Federal limits. SNAP is a crucial form of anti-poverty assistance here in California. The proposed rule change would disqualify millions of low-income recipients, and would worsen food security in the U.S., according to the USDA’s own analysis.
In this case, because the action is considered a rule change and not a law, we get to comment directly on the proposed change. The Food Research and Action Center has put together an easy form to submit comments on the rule. You can also comment directly on the Federal Register, but their website is difficult to use. Make sure to leave a comment by Monday, September 23.
Here are some sample points you can mention, but be sure to use your own words and personalize your comments with why the SNAP program is important to your or your community, to make sure that each comment gets counted separately.
- Cutting SNAP benefits takes food directly off of the tables of poor Americans
- The USDA analysis found that the change would affect the food security and savings of Americans (More info here)
- The current system supports working families who are just above the income limit for SNAP. Cutting this program discourages workers from taking a raise or increasing hours that would put them over the limit (More info here)
- The proposed rule would require states to abide by an asset limit for eligibility, which discourages families from saving money (More info here)
- Making a rule change circumvents Congress, which has repeatedly rejected cuts to SNAP on a bipartisan basis (More info here)
For more background read our prior articles about SNAP:
- March 5, 2019: Protest proposed rule limiting food aid
- November 29, 2018: Out of the mouths of babes
- November 14, 2018: Protect the Farm Bill in Conference
- June 26, 2018: Feed people – save food stamps
