Showing entries tagged: 'policy'

FoodShare Eligibility, Benefit Allotment, and Program Updates in October 2021

With the start of the new Federal Fiscal Year, there are a few important changes going into effect regarding FoodShare eligibility and benefit maintenance policy. Cost of living adjustments will result in increased benefits. Those participating in the program will be required to submit six-month reports and conduct an interview at the time of application and annual review.

Pandemic Food Aid Programs Ending- What this means and when this will happen

During the pandemic there were increases and added flexibilities to nutrition assistance programs, such as SNAP and WIC. There were also added programs, such as Pandemic EBT and Farmers to Families Food Boxes. We are now considering the impact of the sunset of these programs and increases and what that will mean for families experiencing food insecurity.

Capitol Hill Visits 2019

On Monday and Tuesday, we were on Capitol Hill for our annual DC trip and congressional visits as part of the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference sponsored by Feeding America, FRAC, and the National CACFP Forum. We were joined by our hunger fighting friends at WISCAP, the Wisconsin Council on Churches, and representatives from our food bank Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. It was great to be able to touch base with all of our members of Congress to discuss our legislative priorities for the year and share some of our concerns about current issues that would increase the risk of hunger for our friends and neighbors.

Government Shutdown

The shutdown of the federal government is heading toward its fourth week, making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history and leaving over 800,000 federal workers, including nearly 29,000 living in Wisconsin, furloughed or working without pay. We are concerned on two fronts about a prolonged government shutdown. The first, of course, is that 29,000 federal employees living in Wisconsin, working hard and playing by the rules, are currently not receiving paychecks. While the government is shutdown, the need for food or the need to pay the mortgage or the car payment does not. The challenges and uncertainties that these federal workers are now facing are just like the challenges that many other of our friends and neighbors face when they are not earning enough money or working enough hours due to no fault of their own.

A Tale of Two Farm Bills

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Congress has two very different versions of the Farm Bill to conform in a conference committee. The Senate passed its version of the Farm Bill yesterday on a strong, bipartisan vote. This sets up a conference between the Senate and the House, which narrowly passed its version of the Farm Bill just last week, to hash out the differences between the two versions. Both chambers will have to pass the conformed Farm Bill coming out of conference before the President can sign it into law. Given the vast differences in SNAP policy between the two versions, this may be a difficult task.