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January 29, 2014

Velázquez on SNAP Cuts

Washington, DC –Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement regarding reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that passed the U.S. House of Representatives today:

                “From the beginning, I opposed Republican efforts to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.   While this final legislative product does not go as far as Tea Party Republicans wanted in reducing SNAP funding, it still makes harmful and regrettable cuts.  The original House-passed bill contained damaging cuts of $40 billion, which I staunchly opposed.  Today’s measure would reduce SNAP funding by $8.6 billion.  Nationally, this reduction in resources is expected to affect 850,000 families and lower monthly benefits by an average of $90 a month.  

                “Fortunately, a number of draconian proposals included in the original House-passed bill have not made it into this legislative package. Those misguided provisions, which would have cut off unemployed childless adults, eliminated SNAP benefits for households with incomes modestly above federal limits, and allowed states to subject recipients to drug testing, have been removed from this package. It has been estimated that had those ideas been enacted, nearly 4 million people, including many low-income children and seniors, would have been denied assistance. Thankfully, those proposals have been stripped from the legislation.

“SNAP is a critical safety net for nearly 2 million New York City residents and going forward, I will continue pushing to fully restore SNAP assistance.  With so many working families and seniors still struggling to put food on the table, we simply cannot turn our back on our nation’s most vulnerable.”


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