12/23/2022
Hunger Solutions New York ๐ผ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ช๐๐จ ๐ผ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐ข๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ข๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐พ๐ช๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ฉ๐จ
Today, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill with several provisions affecting SNAP and child nutrition programs. Hunger Solutions New York applauds key victories in the bill:
โข A new, permanent Summer EBT program will provide $40 per month in food benefits to eligible children over the summer months. The bill also provides additional flexibilities for non-congregate summer meal programs in rural communities without traditional congregate sites.
โข Provisions addressing the skimming of EBT benefits will strengthen EBT card security and allow for the replacement of up to two months of benefits stolen between October 1, 2022 โ September 30, 2024.
We are grateful for the members of New Yorkโs delegation who supported Summer EBT โ a longtime priority for Hunger Solutions New York โ and a swift response to benefit skimming. In particular, we thank Senator Gillibrand for her tireless support of Summer EBT over many years and for championing a federal fix to EBT skimming, and Senator Schumer for ensuring those provisions remained on the table through difficult negotiations.
However, we are deeply troubled by the tradeoffs used to fund Summer EBT. The bill prematurely sunsets SNAP emergency allotments after February 2023, rather than continuing the allotments through the duration of the national public health emergency. It also reduces investments in Pandemic-EBT benefits for summer 2023.
These unnecessary and harmful cuts to SNAP and Pandemic-EBT will hasten a hunger cliff for many New Yorkers. Starting in March 2023, over 2.8 million NY SNAP recipients will lose, on average, an estimated $82 per person per month in nutrition benefits, a drop of roughly a quarter of a billion dollars per month in federal nutrition benefits to our state. This will be a sudden and devastating loss for families already struggling to make ends meet. Hunger Solutions New York remains firmly opposed to any offsets that cut benefits in one federal nutrition program to fund investments in another; Congress can and must identify additional resources to strengthen all the federal nutrition assistance programs that work together to alleviate hunger.
๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ผ๐ก๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ
The federal omnibus bill did not include any measures to expand access to school meals, despite ongoing fallout from the loss of universal free school meals this year. This inaction at the federal level further underscores the need for New York to step up and ensure all kids in our state have access to the meals they need to learn and thrive.
We urge Governor Hochul to make Healthy School Meals for All NY Kids a priority in her FY2024 Executive Budget.
You can join the call by sending an email to Governor Hochul and your representatives, submitting a Letter to the Editor to your local papers, and amplifying the latest media coverage โ including an op-ed from Rachael Ray โ on your social media channels. View our recent advocacy alert to learn more.