By
now you have received numerous emails from the AHNC and other stakeholders, asking
you to take action and contact lawmakers in Olympia to urge them to support
critical anti-hunger programs, specifically State Food Assistance, which the
Senate proposes to completely eliminate.
How did we get here?
Tuesday February 2nd, the Senate Ways and Means
Committee released their budget proposal and heard public testimony later that
night. While it contained few options to increase revenue and used
apportionment to reduce the amount of cuts that needed to be made to balance
the budget by moving the due date for some K-12 education costs to the next
fiscal year, the budget proposal was generally applauded by advocates for
low-income families. That Senate budget preserved current funding
appropriations for our state’s nutrition assistance programs, TANF benefits
amounts, and Disability Lifeline’s Medical and Housing/Essential Needs
programs. K-12 education was also saved from any additional cuts.
On the following Friday evening, March 2nd, the
Republican caucus, along with three fiscal conservative Democrats, joined
forces to pull a Republican version of the budget proposal to the floor for a vote.
This budget had no public notice and no public review or hearings. Their
proposal replaced all the language of the budget bill that had had hearings and
passed out of committee already. It makes cuts to basic and higher education
and deep cuts to human services, including eliminating the State Food
Assistance Program (SFA). That budget passed the Senate very early Saturday
morning, with all but the three Democratic Senators voting against it.
On Thursday afternoon, the final day of the regular
session, the House rejected the Senate’s budget.
What is the impact on AHNC’s legislative priorities?
This Senate budget included the following:
- Elimination of the State Food Assistance Program which provides state-funded food stamps to feed legal immigrants. Around 31,000 individuals, including 12,500 children currently benefit from SFA.
- WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, school meals and EFAP had no cuts
Additionally,
the budget levels more harmful cuts to programs children and families rely on
to meet their basic needs:
- $202 million was cut from TANF(2% less in monthly payments that help low-income families get by), as well as a lower lifetime limit on TANF (48 months, not 60 months allowed by federal standards).
- Cuts to Maternity Support Services (support for high-risk pregnant women and young babies) and family planning services
- The Disability Lifeline Medical Program (provides health care for people with disabilities who cannot work) was eliminated, as well as cuts to the DL Housing and Essential Needs funds.
Will there be a special
legislative session?
YES. The
end to the regular session was yesterday, March 8th. Last night
Governor Gregoire called for a special session beginning Monday March
13th at noon, and lasting for 30 days. Lawmakers must come together
during that time to formulate an agreed upon budget to send to the
Governor for her signature.
If the legislature cannot formulate an agreed upon supplemental budget during the special session, the Governor could balance
our budget with across the board cuts. This will mean nutrition assistance programs such as the
Emergency Food Assistance Program, which provides funding for food banks to pay
for operations transportation, and food purchasing costs, may suffer from a cut
in funding. Some programs, such as the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which
provides money for low-income seniors and families with young children to
purchase produce at local farmers markets, may not survive any further cuts in
funding.
What’s next?
We must continue to advocate strongly for the
programs Washingtonians rely on to survive. If you have not yet contacted
lawmakers, now is the time. We are asking people to fax letters, send
emails (individualized, not form alerts) or make calls and ask to speak to your
legislator or their staff directly. Lawmakers need to hear from you:
2. Urge lawmakers to work together to pass a budget that does not have cuts to critical human services programs, including anti-hunger programs, and which avoids the prospect of an all-cuts budget from the Governor’s office.
3. Restore funding to State Food Assistance and include language to give the Department of Social and Human Services flexibility to increase monthly SFA benefits when funding becomes available.
The AHNC will continue to send
critical updates and action alerts as events unfold in Olympia. Please be sure
to take action as needed and share these updates with your networks.
Upcoming Events:
United Way of King County is
hosting Hunger Action Week March
19-24th. To register, click here. For more information on
the event, click here.
AHNC Membership meeting: Tuesday
April 10th, 2:30-4:30pm, location TBA
Hunger Relief, Legislative Session in the News
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