Call Senator Murphy today to protect SNAP Benefits

As the Senate prepares to take up debate on its Farm Bill, we are asking anti-hunger advocates to take to the phones (yet again!) to urge your Senator to support Senator Gillibrand’s “Restore SNAP Cuts” amendment.  This amendment restores the $4.1 billion/10 years cut to SNAP made in the Senate Agriculture passed Farm Bill, and offsets this cost by reducing payments to crop insurance companies without reducing the crop insurance subsidies the government pays directly to farmers.

Along with Sen. Gillibrand, Senator Blumenthal and nine others have co-sponsored the amendment to protect SNAP in the Farm Bill.  The deadline to co-sponsor the amendment is noon on Monday, May 20^th.

Please call Senator Murphy's office now and ask that the Senator co-sponsor the Gillibrand Amendment to the Farm Bill!  Just call (202) 224-4041, indentify yourself by name and hometown and say something like, "Please ask Senator Murphy to co-sponsor the Gillibrand Amendment to the Farm Bill in order to restore the proposed cuts to SNAP.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s mark includes a $4.1 billion ‘Heat and Eat’ cut that would limit states’ abilities to coordinate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and SNAP benefits, and, counter intuitively, reduce SNAP benefits for households eligible for but receiving the smallest, least adequate LIHEAP benefits. This cut would reduce SNAP benefits by $90/month for over 500,000 households around the country.  See FRAC Analysis of SNAP/LIHEAP Limitation: SNAP Cuts = Cuts in Meals for Americans Struggling To Heat and Eat.

In addition, new polling data released by FRAC shows that support for SNAP/Food Stamps remains high. Seven in 10 voters say that cutting food stamp funding is the wrong way to reduce government spending. Follow these links to FRAC’s press release and full poll results (pdf).