| Forwarded from Bread for the World
Food Stamp Program Update
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the calls you've made to Rep. Tim Johnson about the House budget bill. Though the vote did not turn out the way we had hoped, your call helped make a real difference for poor and hungry people in our country.
As you may have heard, the House passed their budget bill late last week on a very close 217-215 vote. The bill contains changes to the eligibility requirements of the Food Stamp Program, which would result in cutting more than 220,000 people from the program, if this version of the budget becomes law. 150,000 people in low-income families will lose food stamps, as will 70,000 hardworking, but poor, legal immigrants in our country. We can and must reverse these harmful provisions in the next step in the legislative process, when members of the House and Senate work out the differences between the two versions of the budget bill in conference. The Senate version of the budget bill contains no cuts to the Food Stamp Program, so we will be urging Congress to adopt the Senate version of the budget.
You might be wondering, if the House budget passed with all these cuts to the Food Stamp Program, then how did our calls make a difference? They made a difference in many ways! Food stamps figured prominently in the debate around this bill and were a part of all of the negotiations in the House before last week's vote. Because of calls from constituents, letters to the editor, Offerings of Letters and other actions, many members of Congress refused to vote for a budget with substantial cuts to the Food Stamp Program. At different points this fall, there were projections that the House would cut the Food Stamp Program by $1.2 billion, but instead they cut it by $675 million. Even though far too many legal immigrants will be cut from food stamps in this bill, at one point the House was going to make cuts almost twice as deep. Another way to see the impact of your calls was that the managers of the budget bill brought one, last minute change to the House floor...and that change was to the food stamp section of the bill and saved about 70,000 people making the transition from welfare to work from losing their food stamp benefits. This change was made as a final step to secure the votes of several key members of Congress, who were adamantly opposed to the deep food stamp cuts that had been proposed. Your calls and actions changed the debate, forced Congress to directly confront the issue of hunger in our country, and helped improve the House version of the bill. This is a significant accomplishment and will put food stamps in a much stronger positions when the House and Senate conference on the budget.
All these positive changes, though, do not mean the bill passed by the House last week is a good bill. It is not. As Bread for the World President David Beckmann said, " We are disappointed that the House made cuts to the Food Stamp Program and are poised to cut taxes for the wealthy. Their choice takes food from families struggling to make ends meet and puts more money in the pockets of those who need it the least. This is morally wrong and will make Thanksgiving bleaker for hundreds of thousands of hard-working families."
Now we have the chance to make sure this version of the budget does not become law. We need the budget that emerges from the House-Senate conference to be one that contains no cuts to food stamps. We also need to let our members of Congress know their votes have been seen and appreciated, for those that voted against the bill, or that we are deeply disappointed in the vote of those that supported the bill.
If you can, this would be a great time to make one more calls to your member of Congress. The special 800 number to the Capitol switchboard (1-800-826-3688) will be open through Wednesday, November 23, for your use. Because Rep. Johnson voted against the budget bill, please call and thank him for his vote against the budget that cuts 220,000 vulnerable people from the Food Stamp Program. Also urge him to do all in his power to see that no cuts to food stamps or other safety net programs are in the final budget that is negotiated between the House and Senate.
Again, please know how much we all at Bread for the World appreciate every action you have taken around this important issue. Your actions have made a real difference, not just in the legislative debate in Washington but also in the lives of literally thousands of poor and hungry people in our country.
With blessings and thanks for your deep passion and commitment,
Mariah | 
