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Friends!
We need your help stopping
SB 60 and
HB 2132.
SB 60 would limit access to SNAP (food stamps) benefits via a "on size fits all" approach to waivers and work requirements, and it would add layers of bureaucracy to the Dept. of Health and Human Resources thereby costing the state more money in administrative costs.
HB 2132 would limit access to SNAP benefits for abled bodied adults to a strict 3 months within a 36 month period.
There has been much effort put into stopping this bill.
Senators Jeffries and Facemire have removed themselves as sponsors of the bill. Phone calls, emails, and in-person meetings have slowed its progress, but we need you help
TODAY to kill it.
Tomorrow SB 60 is the first item on the agenda in the Senate's Heath and Human Resources Committee meeting scheduled for 1:00PM.
CALL SENATE AND HOUSE HEATH AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEES NOW!!!
Key Things to know about SNAP in WV:
1. WV RECEIVES
WV receives less than 1% of the total federal allocation for SNAP (just 0.68%). WHY ARE WE WASTING TIME AND MONEY ON THIS! WHY IS WV LEADING ON FRAUD PROTECTIONS when we pay the lowest share of taxes and receive such a tiny share of the spending?
2.
But this is a vital nutritional lifeline.
23.74% of WV households receive SNAP benefits (rank 10
th
highest percentage in the country).
3. SNAP Counts. In 2006 the federal government subsidized WV's retail sector with $263,784,467 in SNAP disbursed with a total economic impact of $448,433,594
(given the USDA $1.70 estimation of the multiplier effects of SNAP use on household retail spending
including
non food products).
In 2016 the federal government subsidized WV's retail sector with 489,559,343 in SNAP disbursed with a total economic impact of $
832,250,883
(given the USDA $1.70 estimation of the multiplier effects of SNAP use on household retail spending including non-food products).
4.
SNAP benefits make up less than 40% of a monthly food budget for a family of 4. Moreover, in case you thought charity could fill the gap. Most food pantries only supply a 3-4 day food ration per person per month.
Key Arguments against SB 60:
"Limiting access to SNAP only shifts the burden to food banks and churches who are already over-extended."
- This one is a great point that reinforces the importance of SNAP and brings it right into lawmakers' back yard. Be sure to hyper-localize the examples of the Food Banks and orgs on the front lines in your communities. Very compelling way to start this conversation
"A one size fits all approach to waivers and work requirements is bad policy for WV."
- There is a world of difference between the employment opportunities someone has in Morgantown as compared to the Southern Coal Fields. SB 60 does not acknowledge this reality. The Governor needs flexibility to apply SNAP waivers to the parts of our state still not recovered from the recession. Enacting stringent, across the board work requirements in places where work is hard to find (not to mention transportation and childcare) is unfair and economically unwise. What good are work requirements if there are no jobs.
"Many of the SB 60's provisions are duplicative or add layers of bureaucracy to DHHR. It certainly does NOT reduce the size of government"
- West Virginia already has a process to determine eligibility for public assistance. Not only does the bill call for things we already do, it adds multiple layers of bureaucratic red tape. There's a third party vendor system (which has not delivered in other states that have tried), overly expansive asset testing requirements, multiple agreements with Federal agencies, and other entanglements that will increase the size and payroll of state government when we cannot afford it.
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