1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to convey to your leadership the urgency of ensuring that with the expiring Jan. 30 continuing resolution (CR), the next appropriation bill must take the first steps to undo the harmful cuts made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through the budget reconciliation law, H.R. 1. Most urgently, the next appropriation bill must immediately eliminate the unprecedented and devastating cost shifts to states and counties in H.R. 1 that will result in impossible choices for state and municipal governments — fund SNAP or cut other critical services. States cannot and should not be expected to cover federal disinvestment in a national nutrition program. The cost shifts to states would be so severe that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that states combined would be forced to contribute $35 billion or exit the program entirely. SNAP has never been a state budget line item, and the recent federal government shutdown showed the chaos that delaying benefits creates as families are forced to choose between food, rent, and other basic needs. Even states that try to fill the gap will quickly deplete rainy day funds and divert resources from priorities like housing, education, and health care. Additionally, states cannot shoulder these new burdens while relying on inconsistent and conflicting federal direction that will increase error rates. The Restoring Food Security for American Families and Farmers Act would undo all the cuts to SNAP in H.R. 1. This bill is needed to avoid the suffering and chaos we saw during the government shutdown when benefits were delayed and to ensure that these cuts won't ripple across all nutrition programs. The CBO estimates that subsidies provided through child nutrition programs — including the National School Lunch Program — will decrease for approximately 96,000 children, cutting those programs by $170 million. I urge you to act quickly and to work with your colleagues in Congress to ensure that the SNAP cost shifts to states are addressed in the upcoming Jan. 30 legislation. Legislation should advance until the harmful SNAP cost shifts are addressed.