Western Center has issued a joint statement on President Trump’s signing of the Farm Bill, in partnership with the California Association of Food Banks, California Food Policy Advocates, the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, and the County Welfare Directors Association. The President signed the bill after an announcement was made that the Administration will request comments for a proposed rule attempting to weaken protections against work requirements in the SNAP program.
To read the full statement, and for contact information, click here.
A highlight from the statement is below:
The signed version of the bill that passed last week out of both houses with strong bi-partisan support includes a Nutrition Title with several changes to SNAP—none of which were determined by the Congressional Budget Office to produce savings by cutting access to the program. Congress’ refusal to expand the harsh SNAP 3-month time limit and related work requirement that were proposed by the House version of the Farm Bill was a source of relief for low-income Americans across the country and their advocates. The Administration’s announcement of upcoming regulations on the same issue this week is extremely disappointing, but not unexpected, based on numerous similar attempts over the past two years to circumvent Congressional and Judicial decision-making with proposed policies that make it more difficult for low-income Americans to receive the help they need.
