Coloradans' hand-written letters on SNAP cuts heading to nation's capital
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Two leading Colorado nonprofits working to end hunger are collecting hand-written letters from a wide range of people who would be directly impacted if Congress cuts funding for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. The letters will be delivered to Colorado's congressional delegation on May 6th.
Carmen Mooradian, senior public policy manager with Hunger Free Colorado, said lawmakers need to see that these cuts are not just about abstract budgets and datapoints.
"We're talking about the real-life effect of cuts on real people. And so we want to hear from Coloradans what impacts SNAP cuts would have on them, and how SNAP has shaped their life," she said.
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Letters can be uploaded at www.endhungerco.org until April 29. Republicans have charged the Agriculture Committee that oversees SNAP to cut $230 billion to pay for priorities such as mass deportations and extending tax breaks. The committee's chairman says SNAP won't see cuts because savings can come from reducing fraud. But some Republicans say the scale of the cuts would require changes to SNAP.
President Donald Trump is currently facing the worst economic approval rating of his political career, according to a new CNBC survey, and cutting SNAP may not improve economic outlooks.
Dayana Leyva, policy manager with Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, said state and local economies would take a big hit.
"It's an economic engine. For every dollar that is invested into the SNAP program we can expect between $1.50 to $1.80 in local economic activity," she explained. "Currently in Colorado, there are 3,100 authorized SNAP retailers."
Some 600,000 Coloradans currently depend on SNAP to put food on the table. Mooradian said cuts would put even more pressure on the state's already overstressed food pantries. She adds that SNAP cuts would also impact public health.
"SNAP participation is linked to better overall health, especially among children and older adults and people with chronic health conditions. And food insecurity, on the other hand, is tied with higher rates of illness, including asthma in children and more frequent emergency room visits," she continued.
