LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thursday House Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package. It now heads to the Senate. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program is expected to face major cuts, that experts warn could mean losing benefits for hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians.
According to Feeding America’s “Map the Meal” gap study, more than 753,000 Kentuckians or 1 in 6 face hunger. This leaves many to rely on local food banks and SNAP benefits.
In an opinion article highlighted by Spectrum News 1 partner, The Kentucky Lantern, Melissa McDonald, the executive of Feeding Kentucky said, if the proposed bill passes, the Kentucky budget would be responsible for funding over $150 million annually to maintain current benefit levels. Experts say the bottom line is simple: fewer Kentuckians will be able to eat
She said the proposed legislation would throw the entire SNAP system off course.
McDonald said, “It’s shifting it from being a federally funded program to having states having to take over the responsibility to be able to cover, not just the benefits, which has never been done before, but to be responsible for more of the administrative dollars.”
McDonald broke it down by saying, “Kentucky, or all states had to have a 50/50, so the federal government covers 50% and the state has to cover the other 50%. We’ve been there before, but now with this change, it makes the state have to cover 75%.”
McDonald said this change would be uncomfortable for Kentuckians. “That makes us worry because any time there is the uncomfortable, and any time something goes off course, there are going to be plenty [of people] that are going to get lost. They’re going to slip through that crack.”
After recent Kentucky natural disasters, McDonald said states do not have the resources to handle dramatic surges of need. McDonald said, “There is a disaster SNAP, which many may have heard of in the news a lot recently. We’ve had three federal declarations in our state which provided us the ability to ask for, what’s called, D-SNAP to help with those disaster effected counties. Folks living in that area able to receive dollars for food purchases. We don’t know what that’s going to look like. Our disasters are not slowing down in our state, and how are we going to be able to cover that cost on top of being able to feed people.”
Alexus Richardson is the director of communications for Dare to Care food bank in Louisville, which has been providing for food insecure households for over 50 years. Richardson said she expects more needs from the community if this bill is passed.
“We’re seeing some of the highest rates that we’ve seen in food insecurity since the great recession, and that’s before any cuts to SNAP. So, we know that is going to hurt so many families and they’re going to be looking to us to supply food at a time when we’re also facing cuts to the food that we receive,” Richardson said.
Richardson said this is the time for community action by volunteering, donating and contacting legislators.
She added, “These kinds of actions can really help us to save SNAP and save Medicaid, so we don’t have to make those kinds of decisions. Because what that looks like for us is potentially having requirements for people to get food with, you know, more screenings. So, less food out to the community, less people getting food.”
McDonald said, “Hunger knows no zip code. Hunger can impact anyone at any time. It can really, truly be a surprise. No one plans to be hungry, so we have to remember that many of these individuals are shocked, there’s a trauma involved. There’s always a human behind this number that we’re having legislators make decisions for.”
You can write a letter directly to legislators through the Dare to Care website.