Showing entries tagged: 'dc'

Capitol Hill Visits 2019

On Monday and Tuesday, we were on Capitol Hill for our annual DC trip and congressional visits as part of the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference sponsored by Feeding America, FRAC, and the National CACFP Forum. We were joined by our hunger fighting friends at WISCAP, the Wisconsin Council on Churches, and representatives from our food bank Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. It was great to be able to touch base with all of our members of Congress to discuss our legislative priorities for the year and share some of our concerns about current issues that would increase the risk of hunger for our friends and neighbors.

Decrease in the FoodShare Program in SOTU

During the State of the Union address, the President said, “Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps," as an example of the improving economy. This is a great example of why SNAP must be protected and why it was so important that the recently passed Farm Bill did not make any structural changes to the program. A primary feature of the program is that it expands when the economy is bad and the need is high, just like in 2008, and when the economy improves, the program contracts, as people "graduate" from the program as they make more money and get back on their feet.

Government Shutdown

The shutdown of the federal government is heading toward its fourth week, making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history and leaving over 800,000 federal workers, including nearly 29,000 living in Wisconsin, furloughed or working without pay. We are concerned on two fronts about a prolonged government shutdown. The first, of course, is that 29,000 federal employees living in Wisconsin, working hard and playing by the rules, are currently not receiving paychecks. While the government is shutdown, the need for food or the need to pay the mortgage or the car payment does not. The challenges and uncertainties that these federal workers are now facing are just like the challenges that many other of our friends and neighbors face when they are not earning enough money or working enough hours due to no fault of their own.

FoodShare During the Shutdown

The good news is that USDA recently announced that it would pay February FoodShare benefits! The bad news is that we don't know a whole lot more about what happens after that. In the meantime, here's what we do know about FoodShare benefits during the shutdown.

We passed the Farm Bill!

After two years of consideration, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the Conference Report for the 2018 Farm Bill. This means we passed a Farm Bill that protects SNAP, fights hunger, and strengthens rural communities! The president is expected to sign the bill into law next week.