Denver — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader, and 43 Senate Democratic colleagues to warn the American public that Congressional Republicans plan to make deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.
“The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans are planning to give another round of tax handouts to the ultra-wealthy and corporations paid for by gutting the food assistance that helps American families pay for groceries at a time when they are struggling to afford food, health care, housing, and other household basic needs,” wrote Bennet, Klobuchar, Schumer, and the senators.
SNAP is the nation’s most effective nutrition assistance program and plays a critical role in reducing poverty, fighting hunger, and supporting low-income families. The program supports 42 million Americans, including 8 million seniors, 16 million children, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans. SNAP also plays a vital role in rural communities, where participation rates are higher than in urban communities, and every dollar invested in SNAP delivers a greater return to the local economy. In Colorado, 584,500 people – or 10% of the state’s population – rely on SNAP.
The senators’ open letter to the public comes as Republicans in the Senate and the House passed a budget resolution that would fast-track cuts to nutrition assistance by more than 20 percent. A cut of this size would mean a $230 billion decrease in SNAP benefits, which could also result in an estimated $30 billion in lost revenue for farmers and ranchers. In their letter, the senators argue that such a significant cut could cause food costs to rise and decrease the per-person SNAP benefit by over $500 per year.
“Republicans are writing the most consequential tax and budget legislation in decades entirely behind closed doors. That’s because Trump and Congressional Republicans must hide the ugly truth—their legislation feeds corporate and wealthy individuals’ greed by taking food assistance away for tens of millions of Americans. You, your family, and your neighbors deserve far better,” concluded the senators.
In addition to Bennet, Klobuchar, and Schumer, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Coons (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) also signed the letter.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
An open letter to the public:
The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans are planning to give another round of tax handouts to the ultra-wealthy and corporations paid for by gutting the food assistance that helps American families pay for groceries at a time when they are struggling to afford food, health care, housing, and other household basic needs. If enacted, cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will have severe consequences for millions of veterans, seniors, children, and hard-working farmers.
We write to make our position on this legislation perfectly clear: Congress should not give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans by taking away food assistance from millions of Americans. Earlier this year, both the House and the Senate passed budget bills that pave the way for deep cuts to SNAP. The House budget bill would require at least $230 billion in cuts. The Senate bill sets a floor of $1 billion in cuts with nothing to prevent it from going as high as the House bill. This would be a more than 20 percent cut to a program that helps millions of struggling families afford groceries.
SNAP supports 42 million Americans, including nearly 8 million seniors, 16 million children, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans, in putting food on their tables each month. Cuts of this magnitude—or anything close to it—would be devastating to American families in every state. SNAP benefits currently average only $6.20 per person per day. At a time when people across the country are struggling with the high cost of groceries, a cut of this magnitude could result in an immediate increase in food costs, dropping the annual, per person SNAP benefit by over $500 per year per person.
Congressional Republicans might claim that their plan is to merely require states to pay for a portion of food benefits for the first time. In truth, such an unprecedented cost shift could force states to cut benefits, severely restrict program eligibility, or both. If combined with a similar Medicaid cost shift, these unfunded mandates could decimate state budgets and cut healthcare and food assistance for millions of Americans.
Taking away SNAP would also hurt the farmers who grow our food, the manufacturers that package it, truckers who distribute it, and small businesses in our communities that sell it. Each SNAP dollar stimulates the economy: every $1.00 in food assistance provided by the program in a weak economy generates an additional $1.50 in economic activity. Because adequate nutrition is so important for children’s health and development, the long-term return on investment is even greater: every $1.00 invested in SNAP for children returns $62 in value. In 2020 alone, SNAP supported 200,000 grocery industry jobs and created nearly 45,000 new jobs in supporting
industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and municipal services.
Republicans are writing the most consequential tax and budget legislation in decades entirely behind closed doors. That’s because Trump and Congressional Republicans must hide the ugly truth—their legislation feeds corporate and wealthy individuals’ greed by taking food assistance away for tens of millions of Americans. You, your family, and your neighbors deserve far better.
Democrats are fighting to protect American’s ability to feed their families from Republican cuts.
Join us and keep up the fight.