Op-Ed: Make food programs a priority in next year's budget

IUE-CWA Local 81381 President Christina Christman recently teamed up with NY State Senator Lea Webb to author the following op-ed calling on the New York State Government to address the growing crisis of food insecurity created by federal budget cuts to social programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Local 81381 is the country’s oldest public sector social worker union, representing nearly 1,000 workers in Monroe, County, NY, many of whom are responsible for administering SNAP.

Millions of Americans depend on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistant Program to put food on the table. Nearly 3 million people right here in New York rely on SNAP, 30% of whom are children. There are actual human lives behind each of those numbers, humans who were used as political bargaining chips during the government shutdown by a congressional majority and presidential administration desperate to cut working families off at the knees.

If feeding children, the elderly, people with disabilities and others who struggle to make ends meet wasn’t enough of an incentive to protect SNAP funding — it’s also a boost for our economy. The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance highlighted a study showing that $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.54 in economic activity at grocery stores, farmers markets and other small businesses. Cutting SNAP drains communities and puts at risk the jobs of those who administer benefits.

Click here to read the full op-ed.