Contact: Meredith Jorss, mjorss@strength.org
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the U.S. Senate will vote on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a nearly $2 trillion stimulus bill to address the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. While this bill includes important provisions to help American families, community organizations and businesses weather this crisis, it fails to include a critical increase to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The following is statement from Share Our Strength Senior Vice President Lisa Davis:
"While we are pleased that this latest recovery package includes important provisions to help families and communities impacted by this crisis, including expanded funding for unemployment insurance, resources for front-line health care workers and hospitals, housing assistance and support for schools, all of which are critical as employers across the nation take a hit, particularly in the restaurant and hospitality industry, we are deeply disappointed that it fails to include provisions to strengthen SNAP.
SNAP feeds families and feeds the economy. As jobs are lost and entire industries are disrupted, families will feel the impact in their pocketbooks and in their pantries, struggling to stretch scarce resources across basic needs. While relief checks will help, those funds will quickly be consumed, leaving those impacted struggling to put food on the table over the coming months.
In these unprecedented times, communities need all options available to fight hunger. By providing families with a grocery benefit they can use to directly purchase food, SNAP is a safe, effective way to ensure low-income children and their families get the food they need. At the same time, SNAP is also an extremely effective way to stimulate the economy and an important driver of economic relief and recovery that would help families, communities and our nation in the coming days and months.
Economists estimate that every SNAP dollar that households redeem expands the economy by about $1.50 because it frees cash for poor households to buy other essential items, like diapers and medication, and provides revenue directly to stores helping maintain local jobs. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service estimates that every $1 billion invested in SNAP supports 13,600 jobs and approximately $32 million in farm revenue.
Congress is working hard on solutions to help Americans in need, but now it needs to get the job done. No Kid Hungry will continue to urge Congress to add SNAP to the CARES Act or to quickly pass additional supplementary legislation that strengthens this critical program.”
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, 1 in 4 kids could face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty.
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