Update & Action Alert from AHNC: Vote on the AHNC 2014 Legislative Agenda & Farm Bill Update

Update & Action Alert

YOUR VOICE MATTERS Tell us what should be on the AHNC 2014 Legislative Agenda It may not seem like it but January and the start of the 2014 Legislative Session will be here before we know it. After months of research, campaign planning, and legislative prep work, we have a potential slate of issues for the AHNC 2014 Legislative Agenda. We need your support for these issues because we'll need you to speak up and advocate for these programs throughout the upcoming short session and especially on Hunger Action Day! Please take a few minutes to complete our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7QBZC8D  The poll will close at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19. Thank you in advance for voting and we'll release our 2014 Legislative Agenda next week in time for Committee Assembly Days in Olympia! FARM BILL UPDATE Conference Committee discussions between the House and Senate to reach an agreement on a five year Farm Bill continue. The committee has only had one public hearing at which all 41 members, including Washington's Rep. Suzan DelBene, made opening statements that outlined their priorities for the Farm Bill. Since then the House and the Senate have been on recess but negotiations have continued behind closed doors with the four committee leaders: the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees. It's expected that the Nutrition Title will be negotiated last because of the deep divide over cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps); however, some sources have said that there might be a final agreement to cut $10 billion from SNAP, supposedly marking a compromise between the Senate's proposal to cut $4.1 billion from the program and the House proposal to cut 10 times that amount-almost $40 billion. Cutting any amount from SNAP in the Farm Bill is unconscionable. It's unfathomable to think about cutting food from low-income people, families, seniors, vets, and children as a means of finding supposed savings in our federal budget. In fact, the loss of economic stimulus money to SNAP that resulted in a cut to monthly benefits for every SNAP household that started on Nov. 1 already means that $11 billion will be cut from SNAP over the next three years. This is money that will not come back and already has meant the loss of food for families in need. This alone should be a good enough reason for Congress to say no to any additional cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill. TAKE ACTION  Many thanks to the organizations that responded so quickly to our call for signing onto a letter addressed to Rep. DelBene, our Congressional delegation, and to the Farm Bill Conferees, asking them to protect SNAP from cuts in the Farm Bill. In less than a week, we collected nearly 140 organization names. This letter was emailed on Nov. 1 to coincide with the loss of the economic stimulus boost to SNAP and a hard copy will be hand delivered to Rep. DelBene this week. We need to keep the pressure on Congress to oppose cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill Conference Report. The Half in 10 Campaign has a quick and easy email template that you can adapt with your personal message and then send it to your Member of Congress and to Senators Cantwell and Murray, asking them to protect SNAP from cuts in the Farm Bill. Personalize the email with a couple of lines about why you care about protecting SNAP, but stories that illustrate how the more severe cuts to SNAP that were proposed in the House Farm Bill will be particularly welcomed in putting pressure on Congress to oppose those cuts. Find information on the Half in 10 email here: http://www2.americanprogress.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=312