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Federal Advocacy Update
Your Voice is Needed!
Join the National Call-in THIS WEEK to Urge 'No' Vote on House Budget
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This Thursday,
October 5
, House leaders will have a floor vote on the FY 2018 House Budget Resolution, which contains
deep cuts
to SNAP/CalFresh, the school meals Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), and other vital human needs
programs
critical to ending hunger and poverty. The Resolution would set up a process for tax cuts tilted to the wealthy to slash trillions of dollars over ten years from programs that serve people with low and moderate incomes, including cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, income assistance for working-poor and other struggling families, nutrition assistance, help for students to go to college, job training and education, environmental protections, and public health initiatives.
Why you should care about the House Budget Resolution vote:
- The proposal would cut SNAP spending by $150 billion over ten years by imposing even harsher time limits on unemployed, childless adults and by increasing "state flexibility" (meaning some version of block granting), which would mean the end of SNAP's fundamental commitment to providing vital food assistance to every American who qualifies for help. For detailed information on how the budget resolution targets SNAP, read this analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
- The plan uses the budget reconciliation process to fast-track at least $203 billion in cuts over ten years. Cuts could be made to nearly every vital safety net program that helps low-wage working families, children, seniors, students, and people with disabilities, including SNAP/CalFresh, TANF/CalWorks, Medicaid/Medi-Cal, Social Security Insurance (SSI), Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.
- Child Nutrition Programs are also facing cuts, including $1.6 billion from the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP allows schools and districts with a high concentration of poverty to serve universally free meals, which reduces stigma associated with free meals and reduces administrative burden by eliminating the need to collect school meal debt. In California, nearly 500 schools currently operating CEP and another 1,700 CEP-eligible schools would lose the option to locally decide whether this option is right for their schools.
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YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED THIS WEEK!
Join CFPA and our local, state and national partners for
National Call-in Days this week on Tuesday 10/3 and Wednesday 10/4 to urge all members of the California Congressional Delegation
to vote NO on October 5 and oppose these harmful proposals which will only worsen hunger and poverty already being felt by Californians across the state.
Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or click
here to find your Congress member and to express your opposition to the House Budget Resolution that proposes drastic cuts to SNAP/CalFresh and the broader safety net.
Here is a brief sample script you can use:
I strongly urge Rep. _____ to
oppose the House budget resolution. The harsh cuts to SNAP and other poverty-reduction programs in the House budget will pull the rug out from under the most vulnerable in California, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, while the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations get huge tax cuts.
__________________________________________________________________________
I
t is particularly important for the following House Republicans to hear from their constituents. If you live in their district, please take a few minutes to call the DC or district office. You can use the share of households in each respective district that benefit from CalFresh to help illustrate the how these proposals will only increase hunger and hardship among Members' constituencies.
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* NOTE: Rep. Valadao is one of 20 House Republicans that
signed a
letter (pdf)
last month expressing concern about cuts
to mandatory spending programs.
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DC office (
202) 225-4695
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Hanford district office (559) 582-5526
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Bakersfield district office (661) 864-7736
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Make your voice heard on social media! Here are
#GOPBudget sample tweets.
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@YourMemberHandle: protect millions of Americans against hunger & poverty! Vote NO to proposed House #GOPBudget #food4all
- Millions of CA families rely on programs cut in the House #GOPBudget. Will you fight for them @YourMemberHandle? #SaveTheSafetyNet
- California needs @YourMemberHandle to vote NO to hunger, poverty, & the House #GOPBudget: #SaveTheSafetyNet
- .@YourMemberHandle: do you agree that no one should go hungry in America? Vote NO #GOPBudget #SaveTheSafetyNet
You can find your Member's Twitter handle
here.
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