Local UU Action to Support SNAP
Right now – if you are from Kansas, Michigan or North Dakota, your UU advocacy voice and witness are especially needed to help keep hunger at bay for 40 million children, and elderly and disabled adults.
Your Senators play important roles as the 2018 Farm Bill is being considered. Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) have been proposed by the House of Representatives that would leave millions hungry.
Senators need to hear from their constituents that the partisan approach taken by the House is unacceptable, as are the significant changes in the House bill to the SNAP program which would overwhelm states with a massive new bureaucracy, prevent individuals from accessing benefits, and implement even stricter work requirements, locking people out of the program if they couldn’t comply.
The Senate Agriculture Committee may vote on the Farm Bill as soon as Wednesday, June 13, with a full Senate vote before the end of June. On May 18, the House failed to pass it’s partisan version of the Farm Bill. The House may try to vote on it again around June 22.
Once the House and Senate have passed their respective Farm Bills, representatives of each chamber will try to work together to reconcile differences and produce a single bill, pass it and send it to President Trump for signature. The Farm Bill must be renewed, or the 2014 Farm Bill extended, by September 30 in order for a number of programs to remain operational without interruption.
TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO –
1 – Faith Leaders – add your name to interfaith letters to your Senator (click on the state below to see and sign the letter – DEADLINE is Sunday, June 10)
These letters are open for ministers and other faith leaders to sign. Please forward as appropriate.
2 – Everyone – attend interfaith events in your state on Tuesday, JUNE 12 and Thursday, JUNE 14.
Share this information widely with others in your congregation and state.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Senator Roberts’ Topeka Office
444 SE Quincy St.
Topeka, KS 66603
Thursday, June 14, 2018
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Greater Christ Baptist Church
3544 Iroquois Ave.
Detroit, MI 48214
North Dakota
Thursday, June 14, 2018
5:00 – 9:00 PM
Oak Grove Park
170 Maple St.
Fargo, ND 58102
Email andre@fcnl.org to get further connected.
The farm bill is a package of legislation passed roughly once every five years, which has a tremendous impact on farming livelihoods, how food is grown, and what kinds of foods are grown. The farm bill also affects conservation, trade, nutrition, jobs and infrastructure, agricultural research, forestry and energy. About 80% of the farm bill deals with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly food stamps). Nationwide, SNAP ensures 40 million children, and elderly and disabled adults are able to buy groceries and have food on their tables and enjoy a decent standard of living.
