Ask Your Senators to Support Critical Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Programs

---DEADLINE PASSED---

July 29, 2010

In June we issued an action alert on supporting WIC/Senior Farm Direct Programs and the Elimination of School Breakfast Co-pay at the state level. Thanks to your efforts in concert with others to urge our legislators to vote for these bills, the Oregon Legislature allotted $2.3 million in state funding to provide free breakfasts for those students whose families make up to 185% of poverty level. The Legislature also fully funded WIC/Senior Farmers' Market Vouchers. Now we join with the Food Research and Action Center in turning our attention to working at the federal level.

Last week the House of Representatives passed its version of the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations spending bill, HR 2997. The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved its version - S 1406 - and it now goes to the Senate floor for debate and action before August. These appropriations bills determine how much funding is received by discretionary programs such as Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and other critical anti-hunger and nutrition programs. View the House and Senate reports detailing the recommendations.

What You Can Do:

Contact Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley (or the appropriate senator in your state; click here for contact info). Urge them to speak out on the Senate floor in support of critical nutrition and anti-hunger programs and to vote for the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations spending bill.

Background Information:

Below is a summary of the food and nutrition highlights contained in both spending bills. Click here to see a side-by-side comparison of the funding levels in the Senate Appropriations Committee bill (S 1406) to the House-passed bill (HR 2997).

WIC:  The Senate Appropriations Committee provides record WIC funding at $7.552 billion (House $7.541 billion). Both the House and Senate bills note the availability of $487 million in contingency funding for WIC in FY 2010. The House report states that it "will continue to       monitor WIC food costs, participation, and carry-over funds, and take additional action as necessary to ensure that funding provided in fiscal year 2010 is sufficient to serve all eligible applicants."  The Senate bill also includes funding for significant program improvements for WIC, including: $80 million for breastfeeding support initiatives; $60 million for State management information systems; and $14 million for infrastructure improvements. It also exempts military combat pay from the WIC eligibility determination and provides funding to increase fruit and vegetable voucher amounts up to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendation. The House bill includes $20 million for breastfeeding support initiatives; $30 million for State management information systems; $14 million for infrastructure improvements; and a provision that may also bring vouchers up to the IOM recommendation.

Afterschool Meal Program Expansion: The Senate Committee bill expands the current 10-state Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Afterschool Meal Program to Wisconsin; the House bill expands the program to Connecticut and the District of Columbia.

Other Child Nutrition Programs and SNAP/Food Stamps: These programs, unlike WIC, are entitlements, with the spending path driven by the authorizing statute, economic conditions and other factors. In some instances, like the afterschool meals program referenced above, the appropriations bill will expand the programs. Otherwise, the spending mostly tracks estimates of the need. Funding for SNAP/Food Stamps in both bills, for example, matched the Administration's request for $61.352 billion in funding, an increase of $7.383 billion over FY 2009.

Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP): Funding for CSFP is $162.8 million in the Senate Committee bill. The House provides $180 million, of which $5 million is designated specifically for expanding the current 32-state CSFP to six additional states with USDA-approved feeding plans (AR, OK, DE, UT, NJ and GA), and $12.2 million to expand caseloads in existing states.

TEFAP/Emergency Food Support: The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) commodity storage and distribution grant program is funded at $49.95 million in the Senate ($49.5 million in the House). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted earlier this year provided an additional $25 million in TEFAP funding for FY 2010. Both bills include $253.3 million for TEFAP commodity purchases. The Food Bank Infrastructure Grant Program, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill to support food banks in rural areas, is funded at $7 million in the Senate (with particular emphasis placed on Indian tribal organizations) and $5 million in the House.

CHC Hunger Fellowship Program: Both the Senate Committee and House fund the Congressional Hunger Center's Bill Emerson/Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowship Program at $2.5 million, supporting the research, analysis and policy work of the hunger fellows.

Read more at the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) website.