The 2014 Farm Bill is set to expire on September 30, 2018. The House’s proposed 2018 Farm Bill was rejected by Congress on May 18, 2018, but is up for reconsideration by June 22, 2018. Among various provisions, the House’s Farm Bill calls for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to uphold monthly eligibility standards as part of its tightened work requirements. The stricter and more demanding requirements are predicted to have devastating results on SNAP – which serves as one of the nation’s most effective and popular anti-hunger programs to date.
A vast number of individuals in New York State depend on SNAP for assistance accessing nutritious food. SNAP is issued through electronic benefit transfer cards (EBT) that are used similarly to debit cards. As demonstrated below, there are substantial numbers of hungry children in New York State, and high percentages of families with children in New York depend on SNAP benefits.