Oppose Cuts to SNAP!

Dear Representative,

I am writing today to urge you to vote NO on the cuts to SNAP proposed in the budget reconciliation bill. As your constituent, I am opposed to any proposal that would decrease SNAP benefits, create additional barriers to access, and further strain our state budget.

While the House and Senate’s proposed SNAP cuts differ slightly, the results are the same - thousands more Washington children and families will face hunger. If passed, these proposals would be the largest cuts to SNAP since the program’s inception, fundamentally restructuring our nation’s most powerful tool to fight hunger. Here’s how:

•Cost-shifting to states. For the first time in program history, this proposal would require Washington to pay between 5% and 15% of SNAP benefit amounts – as much as $286 million annually. It would also add $42 million in administrative fees to the state budget. This financial burden would force the state legislature to cut SNAP eligibility in Washington - or reduce funding to other critical programs to fill the hole.

•Imposes work requirements for adults with children. The House and Senate proposals both require that parents of school-aged children work at least part-time to be eligible for SNAP benefits. If this passes, children having enough food to eat would unfairly depend on their parents’ ability to find and maintain employment.

•Eliminates work requirement exemptions for veterans, former foster youth, and people experiencing homelessness. In 2023, lawmakers passed bi-partisan legislation exempting these populations from the SNAP work requirements. These exemptions must be maintained to ensure low-barrier access for our communities’ most vulnerable.

•Rescinds eligibility for refugees and asylees. 15,000 legal residents in Washington state currently receive SNAP through their refugee or asylee status. This proposal is a stark departure from our country’s long-standing commitment to support people fleeing violence and persecution.

In Washington state, SNAP benefits over 1.2 million individuals – 34% of which are children under 18. This harmful proposal threatens not only the food security of our state’s most vulnerable, but also the food systems and economies that sustain all Washingtonians.

I urge you to reject this bill, and to work with your colleagues across the aisle to communicate the real-world impacts this will have on the American people. Our children, our health, and our economic stability cannot afford these cuts.

Sincerely,