We Applaud the House for Rejecting Farm Bill That Would Harm Food Insecure Citizens

Hunger Free Vermont applauds the House of Representative for decisively rejecting a Farm Bill that would have harmed millions of struggling people in need of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP called 3SquaresVT in VT) benefits. The committee bill put on the floor would have cost two million low-income individuals their benefits entirely, 210,000 children would have lost their free school meals, and an additional 850,000 households would have seen their benefits cut by an average of $90 a month.  In Vermont, cuts would have dropped 7,000 Vermonters from the program and reduced benefits for 10,000 more.

We want to thank Congressman Welch and all the House Members who voted against this bill who have shown they care about the hungriest people in Vermont and in our Country – children, seniors, working families, unemployed workers, and individuals with disabilities – who are struggling every day to meet their basic needs and to put food on the table.  The House did the right thing, and we applaud them for it.

Hunger Free Vermont and hundreds of other groups were opposed to the cuts to SNAP in this harmful bill not only for the more than $20 billion in cuts to SNAP, but also due to harmful amendments that would have allowed states to conduct random drug testing on food stamp applicants, permanently banned certain ex-offenders who have served out their sentences from ever being eligible for benefits, and imposed punitive and unrealistic work and training rules that would have led to the end of benefits for people desperate to find jobs but unable to find them.

1 in 6 Vermonters currently rely on the 3SquaresVT (SNAP) program which is the most effective program to prevent hunger and malnutrition in our state.