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Sign in the window of a store stating that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are accepted.

SNAP cuts would disproportionately impact Colorado's rural communities

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Eric Galatas
(Colorado News Connection)

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A budget resolution recently passed by the U.S. House calls for reducing agriculture funding to the tune of $230 billion.

But critics warn that the proposal will lead to severe cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP - formerly known as food stamps.

Dayana Leyva, policy manager with Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, said the food assistance program currently serves over half a million Coloradans - and six in ten recipients are families with children.

"These cuts to SNAP benefits will be most harmful for our rural communities," said Leyva, "as SNAP enrollment in rural counties are higher than in urban areas."

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Adult and child selecting a beverage from a store shelf - PROMO HIRES Food - Kiwis - iStock-1277932994

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In a recent poll, 60 percent of Trump voters said cutting SNAP is unacceptable - and the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee says there will be no cuts to the program, just to "waste and fraud."

SNAP reductions would be one way for the Trump administration to make good on promises to deliver a tax cut package which, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, would put two-thirds of the benefits into the pockets of the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans.

Leyva said the current proposal would reduce monthly benefits below what's necessary to maintain a healthy diet, limit state control, and add harsher work requirements and red tape.

She said SNAP recipients who are able to work already do so.

"You have to be working 20 hours a week to keep your benefits," said Leyva. "The folks that aren't working are either caregivers, folks who are disabled, elderly, or children."

Cutting SNAP would also impact farmers, grocers and other small businesses. The program is a significant economic driver.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that $1 invested generates a $1.5 to $1.8 in local economic activity.

Leyva said Coloradans would also take a hit if Congress shifted the program's cost to the states.

"And here in Colorado we have nearly a $1.2 billion budgetary deficit," said Leyva, "so there is really no way for Colorado to pick up those costs. And that is the reality for most states."