Davis Against the Department of Agriculture SNAP Proposal

WASH, DC - Congressman Danny K. Davis today denounced in the strongest terms a new proposal from the Department of Agriculture to slash food support for hundreds of thousands of low income Americans by executive action in defiance of bi-partisan work and consensus in Congress, both the House and the Senate, to avoid any such cut backs.

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is our nation's most effective anti-hunger program. The House and Senate included policies in the recently passed 2018 farm bill, which will not include stricter work requirements for SNAP recipients, as advocated by House Republicans and President Trump. Between 800,000 and 1.1 million households would have had their food stamp benefits cut, according to Mathematica Policy Research.

Today the Department of Agriculture announced a regulatory proposal to circumvent the will of Congress and expand work requirements for those in the SNAP program. The proposed rule change makes it harder for states to waive work requirements in areas that have high unemployment.

Davis stated, “Hunger in America remains a reality. Almost 1 in 8 Americans don’t have enough to eat because of a lack of money. Households with children are especially hard hit. The current food insecurity rate remains higher than before the Great Recession according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I denounce and oppose this cruel, heartless, senseless proposal from the Trump Administration and will work with my colleagues in the House to prevent the adoption of the rule.”

Congressman Davis is the Ranking Member of the Human Resources Subcommitee on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee