WASHINGTON – Tonight, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) hosted a Special Order Hour on the House Floor on the importance of protecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Thrifty Food Plan ahead of the markup of the 2024 Farm Bill by the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
Congresswoman Hayes was joined by several House Democratic colleagues during the Special Order Hour, including Rep. Becca Balint (VT-AL), Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Rep. Shontel Brown (OH-11), Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-12), Rep. Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Rep. Tim Kennedy (NY-26), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11), Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-52), and Rep. Susan Wild (PA-07)
Below are the opening remarks offered by Congresswoman Hayes, as delivered:
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to my colleagues who have joined me for this extremely important SNAP Special Order Hour.
Hunger continues to be a pervasive issue in America. According to the USDA, in 2023, over 42 million people rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, and 41% of those households have children.
SNAP benefits are modest, averaging only about $6.20 per person per day or about $2 per person per meal.
The benefits of SNAP are highly targeted to focus on those with the greatest needs. 92% of SNAP benefits go to households with income below the poverty line, and 54% go to households at or below half of the poverty line. Additionally, every dollar spent on SNAP benefits generates as much as $1.54 to the local economy.
House Republicans are putting forward a farm bill which would end the USDA's authority to increase the Thrifty Food Plan. The Thrifty Food Plan is used to determine the amount of benefits a SNAP recipient receives. USDA calculates the Thrifty Food Plan using a mathematical model based on the cost of food, the nutrients in nutrition guidance and what Americans are actually eating. The Thrifty Food Plan goes further than a simple adjustment for inflation to better ensure that people have access to food.
The 2018 Bipartisan Farm Bill directed USDA to regularly reevaluate the Thrifty Food Plan and SNAP benefit adjustments as food prices, dietary guidance and other scientific standards shifted over time. The Farm Bill put forward by House Republicans will result in roughly $30 billion in benefit cuts according to the Congressional Budget Office. That would impact every SNAP household in future years, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities. It would mean that the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan would be frozen, no matter what the science says about the cost of a healthy normal diet.
In the last 50 years, the Thrifty Food Plan has only been updated three times: in 1983, 1989, and 2006. But these updates did not increase SNAP benefits. As a result of the 2021 update, benefits amounts were increased and the purchasing power of the plan to 21%. This led to a $1.40 per person per day increase in SNAP's average benefits, or about 70 cents per meal. This is not a lot of money to begin with.
This update, however, this update lifted over 2 million SNAP participants out of poverty or above the poverty line, including over 1 million children. According to the Urban Institute, the 2021 Thrifty Food Plan reduced poverty for black and Hispanic people, suggesting that reevaluation was addressing long-standing systemic racial issues.
Additionally, a 2023 data for progress poll found that 66% have a favorable view of SNAP, including 83% of Democrats, 62% of Independents, and 52% of Republicans. All Americans benefit from this anti-hunger program, a majority support increasing funding for SNAP, not cutting it.
The total cut to snap and related nutrition programs under the House Republican proposal is roughly $30 billion. The average per person SNAP benefit would be roughly $7 less per month between 2027 and 2031 and jump to $15 less per month in 2032 and 2033.
According to the Budget and Policy Priorities, this cut would affect nearly 6 million older adults, 4 million people with disabilities and nearly 17 million children, including 5 million children under the age of five.
Hunger is a policy choice, and SNAP is our most effective anti-hunger program. We must protect the Thrifty Food Plan in the Farm Bill.
Thank you."