in yet another attack on households struggling to make ends meet, the Trump Administration recently
proposed new, misguided, rules for SNAP/CalFresh.
If enacted, USDA estimates the rule would cut 3.1 million people off of SNAP. In California, that would mean 230,000 - 390,000 or more low-income households would lose access to CalFresh.
These cuts would fall disproportionately on low-wage working families and adults over age 60.
Illogically, the proposed policy change would punish working families for pursuing economic independence. The new rule would mean working families receiving even a modest raise in wages (as small as 50 cents per hour) or a small increase in work hours could have their food assistance taken away due to hitting a
benefit cliff.
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In California, food insecurity is all too common among the general population. Sadly, the situation is even worse among low-income older adults, having increased over 21% since 2001. SNAP/CalFresh is proven to be an effective first line of defense against food insecurity for older adults. It empowers and maintains older adults' ability to lead healthy and independent lives. Instead of connecting more older adults to SNAP, the administration's proposed rule would take away food assistance from over 36,000 households with an older adult, making a bad problem even worse.
Comments Close Monday, September 23rd. Make Your Voice Heard!
Please join us in telling the Administration to withdraw this proposal that would harm working families and older adults struggling to put food on the table.
1) Submit public comments in opposition to the proposed rule.
CFPA has drafted CA-specific model comments that you can customize to your organization's specific mission, geographic region, and population served.
Comments must be submitted by Monday, September 23rd to be counted.
- Short template comments doc
- Senior-focused template comments doc
- Education partners template comments doc
You can submit your comments directly to the Federal Register, or through the online comment portal set up by our partners at the Food Research & Action Center.
2) Share calls to action and ask your friends and allies to submit comments.
Once you've submitted your own comments, share calls to action with your networks and ask them to submit comments as well. Every comment counts in the fight to protect working families and older adults from increased hunger and poverty.
