$4 Billion Cut From SNAP

Congress recently proposed drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. According to the MA Dept. of Transitional Assistance, this could potentially affect more than 120,000 Massachusetts residents, reducing their monthly benefits by $50 – $90 a month. This translates into $75 M and $115 M per year of fewer federal SNAP nutrition dollars for Massachusetts low income households. The disproportionate majority (roughly 80%) of the SNAP households potentially harmed are seniors and persons with disabilities. “With millions of people struggling to pay for food, housing, health, and energy costs in this tough economy, the nation’s safety net must be strengthened — not cut. Today’s vote means less food in the refrigerator for struggling families,” said Jim Weill, President of The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), a leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition. “Attempts to dismiss such cuts as ‘accounting’ fixes obscures the fact that it is a cut in benefits with real impact on people and their ability to purchase food.” Please call your Member of Congress and urge them to fight any cuts to the SNAP program. Find your local representatives here.