Leran Minc
Leaders in Congress are working to pass sweeping legislation that will impact residents in every community in the Commonwealth. If passed, individuals and families will have a harder time accessing healthcare and food.
This process is called budget reconciliation; a process Congress uses to quickly pass spending bills with just a majority of votes.
The first steps of this process are already complete, but over the coming week. We know the House of Representatives is aiming to cut at least:
$880 billion from programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This committee oversees Medicaid spending.
$230 billion from programs overseen by the House Agriculture Committee. This committee oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
$330 billion from programs overseen by the House Education and Workforce Committee. This committee oversees the child nutrition program.
This would be devastating for our communities. Over 1.1 million people in Massachusetts rely on SNAP—children, seniors, veterans, low-wage workers, and others facing tough times and over 595,000 eat school meals daily to fuel their learning and growth. These proposed cuts would take food off their tables.
The good news is that this process is still underway, and we have the power to stop these attacks on federal nutrition programs.
ACT NOW: Ask our Senators and Representatives to prioritize protecting these critical programs.
As the House committees finalize their plans, we will provide updates here.
Last night, the House Committee on Agriculture released its draft legislative language to cut an estimated $290 billion from SNAP. If these proposals were enacted they would dismantle SNAP as we know it and severely cripple its ability to effectively support hungry households. Project Bread and our partners will continue to analyze the 12 SNAP-related proposals, but here are the five most troubling:
Dump costs onto states for both SNAP administration and SNAP benefits. Based on this proposal and current estimates, Massachusetts would be asked to cover over $500 million in annual costs.
Restricts future updates to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), the calculations used to set SNAP benefit levels. Under this proposal SNAP benefits would only increase based on inflation. Every SNAP recipient would feel the impact of this policy.
Increase work reporting rules on older workers (up to 64 years old) and add new reporting rules on families with children over 7. If households fail to work sufficient hours or comply with the bureaucratic burden to report those hours, they will lose benefits. Center on Budget and Public Priorities estimates this would put 230,000 MA residents at risk of losing some or all of their benefits.
Eliminates eligible for nearly immigrants including refugees and asylees who are currently eligible. Only legal permanent residents (green card holders) and citizens would be eligible for SNAP regardless of circumstances or level of need. This is estimated to harm up 20,000 to 25,000 legally present immigrants living in Massachusetts.
As we noted for Medicaid, SNAP is another way low-income families receive free school meals. On top of these draconian cuts to SNAP, these proposals would decrease federal support for child nutrition programs in Massachusetts.
Last night, the House Committee on Energy & Commerce released its draft legislative language. Early estimates by Congressional Budget Office (CBO) are that this bill would cut
At least $715 billion from cuts to Medicaid (known as MassHealth in Massachusetts) resulting in the loss of healthcare coverage for 8.6 million people.
At least $197 billion from other cuts to access to healthcare resulting in at least 5 million people losing health insurance.
The most concerning proposals are:
Requiring states to implement an additional reporting requirement on hours worked, volunteered, or participating in certain educational programs for childless adults between the ages of 19 and 64. This is often called a work requirement, but is, in reality, an additional bureaucratic burden at best and a job loss penalty at worse. The evidence of reporting requirements has conclusively found that these rules do not increase work. Rather these rules take away critical basic needs benefits from those struggling to find consistent employment.
Increase the frequency of verify eligibility for Medicaid to twice a year instead of once a year adding to the bureaucratic burden on the state and on households.
Requires those just above the federal poverty level to pay more in fees and co-pays to access care.
Reducing federal dollars spent to states who use states funds to expand coverage to additional clients such as immigrants.
In addition to the critical role Medicaid (MassHealth) plays in ensuring low-income families have access to health insurance, any cuts to Medicaid decreases the federal dollars going into our state for child nutrition programs.
The Committees on Energy & Commerce and Agriculture have scheduled their markups for Tuesday, May 13th.
The House Education and Workforce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the federal child nutrition programs, marked up their portion of the budget reconciliation on Tuesday and did not include cuts to nutrition programs. Instead, they focused on deep cuts and changes to student loans.
Even though it appears that school meals and other child nutrition programs will not be cut during this reconciliation process, we must remain vigilant. Previous proposals, leaked documents, and recent actions by the Administration show that these critical supports are under attack. Ongoing pressure is needed to remind Congress and the Administration that child nutrition programs are vital to children, families, and communities.
We understand that hunger can't be solved through stop-gap measures. Instead, our work seeks to provide sustainable, scalable solutions that permanently move the needle on ending hunger.