Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the U.S. for calendar year 2022. This year’s study shows the largest one-year spike in poverty on record, up to 12.4% last year from 7.8% in 2021 according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes into account the impact of government assistance and other resources. The following is a statement from Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.

“These numbers are a tragedy, especially because we know this increase was entirely avoidable. During that pandemic, we saw wide scale  bipartisan investments in government assistance programs that had a tremendous impact on hunger and poverty.

“Programs like the enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC) delivered higher benefits on a month-by-month basis to more families, including those with some of the lowest incomes who have historically been excluded. This change finally made these tax credits available for the 1 in 3 children nationwide previously left behind.  

“This temporary expansion of the CTC had a profound impact on children and families, including an unprecedented reduction in child poverty. In 2021, the year expanded CTC payments were available, child poverty fell by 46% and estimates show that 90% of this decline was attributed to the expanded CTC. 

“And, when lawmakers invested in nutrition programs like Pandemic EBT and SNAP, which provide families with grocery benefits to buy food, they not only mitigated a hunger crisis but drove poverty rates down by the millions. When temporary emergency SNAP allotments and a permanent increase to the maximum SNAP benefits were in effect at the same time, they lifted more than 2.3 million kids out of poverty, with an outsized impact on children of color.  

“Sadly, today’s report tells a different story. Child poverty sat at a record low in 2021 and has more than doubled since. 

“While the pandemic may be over, there are still far too many families struggling to make ends meet. Research shows that investing in programs like SNAP and the Child Tax Credit has an impressive return on investment, directly reducing hunger and hardship and helping lift children and families out of poverty. 

“Lawmakers nationwide – from the federal government, to state and local elected officials – have the opportunity right now to fix this avoidable tragedy. There are legislative vehicles moving through Congress through the appropriations and Farm Bill processes to protect and strengthen WIC and SNAP. And restoring the CTC expansion should be a priority seriously sought after. At the state level, there are important opportunities on the horizon to participate in a new Summer EBT program that will connect more kids to the food they need in the summer.  

“We’ve never been closer to ending hunger and building a more sustainable ladder out of poverty. We just need the continued political will to make it a reality.” 

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WASHINGTON, DC — Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee took up the fiscal year 2024 Agriculture spending bill, which sets funding levels for critical programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This bill funds WIC at a level $185 million below FY23 levels and makes additional cuts to the program by cutting back a 2021 bump in benefits for participants to purchase more fruits and vegetables. The following is a statement from Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President of Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign.

“Targeting WIC benefits is just plain wrong and goes against long-standing bipartisan commitments to the program and simple common sense. The research is clear – WIC reduces food insecurity and improves nutrition, ensuring healthier children and families.

“These cuts to WIC spending will impact 5 million participants by slashing their fruit and vegetable benefits. This will bring a child’s benefit from $35 per month down to just $11 a month for fruits and vegetables starting October 1, making it that much harder to access the nutritious food our nation’s youngest kids need to grow up healthy and strong.

“Imagine a family trying to stretch these dollars, especially when, just this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index showed a continued increase in the cost of food, with grocery prices clocking in at 5.8% more expensive in May than just a year ago. 

“In addition to the impact of these cuts, the lack of increased funding for WIC will severely hinder the program’s ability to support caseloads, forcing participants onto long waiting lists for assistance and putting them at risk of hunger.

“We urge Congress to honor its bipartisan commitment to WIC and the millions of moms and kids who benefit from the nutrition it provides.”

The post STATEMENT: Share Our Strength’s Lisa Davis Reacts to House FY24 Agriculture Appropriation Bill’s Cuts to WIC appeared first on Share Our Strength.

Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org

WASHINGTON, DC — Over the weekend, President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling through the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which includes changes for some individuals who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The following is a statement from Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President of Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign.

“While we all recognize the catastrophic impact of a default, we are deeply disappointed that this deal includes cuts that further harm people experiencing hunger and poverty.

“As a whole, the punitive and ineffective SNAP changes included in this bill will save the U.S. very little money. They will also do nothing to remove barriers to make employment more attainable or available for those they impact. Nor are they based on evidence or experience. Instead, they are born from and rely on pervasive myths and misperceptions about SNAP and the people who benefit from the program and stand only to restrict food assistance for some Americans.

“Despite strong evidence that existing work requirements have no measurable impact on employment and only serve to restrict access to essential nutrition benefits, this agreement expands existing work reporting rules for so-called able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) and puts older adults ages 50-54 at risk of losing food assistance.

“This has the potential to impact nearly one million people as it’s phased in over the next two years.

“But what’s even more concerning about this legislation is that it codifies a shift in the purpose of SNAP to be a program that prioritizes penalties and time limits, not improving nutrition outcomes.

“While we’re pleased to see some improvements to SNAP policy, such as new exemptions to ABAWD work requirements for veterans, youths ages 18-24 who are aging out of foster care and individuals experiencing homelessness, burdensome reporting requirements and bureaucratic red tape leave little confidence that this will outweigh the harmful expansion of these requirements for others in this category.  

“We shouldn’t be playing politics with programs that help Americans meet their basic needs. Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign remain committed to protecting and strengthening SNAP and look to the Farm Bill as the White House and Congress’s next best chance to follow facts and evidence as they look for solutions to the challenges families face today.” 

The post STATEMENT: Share Our Strength’s Lisa Davis Responds to Debt Limit Deal and its Impact on SNAP appeared first on Share Our Strength.

Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org

Washington, DC — Today, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law SB 4, which will provide no-cost school meals to all K-12 New Mexico children, including an additional 309,000 children. New Mexico becomes the fifth state to enact a law that requires and funds no-cost meals. The following is a statement from Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President of Share Our Strength:

“In New Mexico, school meals are essential for the 1 in 5 children who may face hunger. The passage of healthy school meals for all children will help students get the fuel they need, but the benefits don’t stop there. When kids have access to consistent, nutritious food through school meals, they can focus on learning, not their empty stomachs. They’re healthier, better able to focus in the classroom and miss fewer days of school. Every day too many families meet challenges in providing meals for their children, with incomes too high to qualify for free or reduced-price meals but too low to meet basic needs. This is only exacerbated by persistent high food prices and school meals are critical to ensure kids’ nutritional needs are met.

We applaud Governor Lujan Grisham, Senator Padilla and Senator Jaramillo for their leadership, elevating New Mexico as a national leader in ensuring every student has a healthy breakfast and lunch.”

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Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org 

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and 14 other House members introduced the America Works Act, a bill to tighten work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill would expand the age bracket of so-called able-bodied adults without dependents, or ABAWDs, from 18-49 to 18-65 and limit states’ ability to request time-limit waivers if there are an insufficient number of jobs to provide unemployment for these individuals. The following is a statement opposing this proposal from Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President of Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign.

“This bill is punitive and counterintuitive, and we strongly oppose it. SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective nutrition programs. We should be seeking ways to strengthen and improve the program, not restrict access to it.

“As proposed, the bill fails to account for the myriad factors that drive economic mobility – income and wages, education, and workforce development, among others. While a good job is the best path out of poverty, there is little reason to believe this bill will increase employment or help anyone achieve self-sufficiency. Instead, it will only serve to take food away from vulnerable Americans. 

“While there is no evidence SNAP creates dependency or disincentives to work, there is a robust body of research reinforcing that a lack of adequate nutrition leads to poorer physical and mental health and higher health care costs.

“This proposal would cause harm to individuals who already face obstacles to work, like a lack of stable housing and access to transportation, and doesn’t take into consideration those with undiagnosed physical or mental limitations.

“Restricting access to critical nutrition programs is especially harmful at a time when food prices remain troublingly high and additional assistance like the SNAP emergency allotments have ended. Averaging about $6 per person per day, SNAP benefits remain low.

“We urge Congress to fight for a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens SNAP, rather than restricting access for those who need its benefits.”

The post STATEMENT: Share Our Strength’s Lisa Davis Responds to House Proposal Restricting SNAP Benefits for “Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents” appeared first on Share Our Strength.

Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org 

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the White House released the President’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024. This proposal, which outlines the administration’s priorities for the nation, includes the reinstatement of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) and investments in school meals. The following is a statement from Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President of Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign.

“We applaud the Administration for proposing significant investments in the programs and policies that lead to meaningful change for children and families across the nation. 

“Specifically, it would:

• Reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit, or CTC, increasing this tax benefit from $2,000 to $3,000 per child for children 6 years or older, and to $3,600 per child for children under the age of 6. It would also make it fully refundable so that it no longer excludes children in the lowest-income families and would allow families to receive monthly advance payments. 
• Invest over $15 billion in the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, which allows eligible schools to reach more kids whose families face financial hardship  with no-cost school meals. This also streamlines meal service for schools and removes the stigma of students being singled out as poor.

“We know these programs work. Before it expired, the expanded CTC was a lifeline for households, helping parents afford necessities like food, rent, diapers and utilities, and lifting millions of kids from poverty.  

“It also advances equity, strengthens families and fights hunger by making sure parents and caregivers are better able to support and feed their children.

“Not only did the temporary expansion of the CTC reduce child poverty by more than 40 percent, moving 2.9 million children from poverty in 2021, it also narrowed the differences in poverty rates between children of all races and ethnicities. 

“An investment in an expanded CTC is an investment in our nation’s children, providing a ladder out of poverty and supporting a strong new generation. 

“Access to no-cost school meals is also critical to achieve this. Expanding the Community Eligibility Provision will help families struggling to stretch limited budgets. It will also help schools cut through red tape so they can reach more kids with the healthy meals they need with less red tape so they can focus on learning and not their empty stomachs. 

“The President’s budget also underscores the importance of the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill. We are grateful the Administration supports the need to expand access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for vulnerable populations and the importance of prioritizing cross-enrollment efforts among programs. 

“We strongly support the Administration’s proposed budget and stand ready to work with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to make these investments a reality for millions.” 

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In addition to our ongoing work to help feed kids across California, Share Our Strength will provide a $25,000 grant to the Central California Food Bank and a $25,000 grant to Redwood Empire Food Bank. These funds will help the food bank buy and distribute food and water to families affected by the Creek Fire and wild fires in Sonoma County.

We are working with the Oregon Department of Education and Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon to see how we can help school districts impacted by the wild fires, and are considering grants to local organizations providing emergency food assistance.

We are closely monitoring the situation and working with officials, schools, and community organizations in California and Oregon to identify the best ways we can continue to support their recovery efforts. We’ve learned from previous disaster recovery efforts that the weeks and months after the disaster present the most critical opportunity for support, both financial and otherwise. Many of the communities impacted by these fires are areas where No Kid Hungry has been working closely with local partners for years, and we will stay in close touch with leaders on the ground to ensure they have the resources they need to feed kids and families.

Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by these crippling wild fires.

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In response to Hurricane Dorian, Share Our Strength will be granting funds to support World Central Kitchen, which is working to feed kids and families in the Bahamas and other disaster zones across the globe. Additionally, Share Our Strength is working with school officials in North Carolina to identify the best ways for the organization to support their recovery efforts.

Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by this devastating storm.

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