August 7, 2000
Mark the date and make time to call.
NASW, in coalition with the Food Research Action Center (FRAC) and other national organizations, is supporting the September 12th National Anti-Hunger Call-In Day and urges your participation. The day is designed to build support for enactment of the Hunger Relief Act and Food Stamp Outreach and Research for Kids (FORK) Act before Congress adjourns. Adjournment is scheduled for early October.
Information on both bills follows. NASW is a supporter of both.
SEPTEMBER 12:
NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY TO SUPPORT HUNGER RELIEF ACT AND FORK ACT
Who to Call:
The Message:
Urge Congress and the Administration to pass important anti-hunger legislation, including the Hunger Relief Act (S. 1805/H.R. 3192) and the Food Stamp Outreach and Research for Kids (FORK) Act (S. 1800/H.R. 2738). The bills would help to address a serious problem plaguing millions of children and adults--widespread hunger and food insecurity.
The Hunger Relief Act targets Food Stamp program improvements to ensure more adequate nutrition assistance for at-risk groups, especially needy legal immigrants and low-income households with children, including working families and families with children and high shelter costs.
The FORK Act requires annual on-site inspections of local Food Stamp offices in each state, caseworker training, and awards grants for improving Food Stamp program access.
Primary Senate sponsors: Edward Kennedy(D-MA), Arlen Specter (R- PA), Jim Jeffords (R-VT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Primary House sponsors: James Walsh (R-NY), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Eva Clayton (D-NC), Tony Hall (D-OH) and Nancy Kaptur (D-OH).
Statement in Support of the Kennedy-Specter Hunger Relief Act
Our broad coalition of anti-hunger, immigrant, religious, labor, children's, elderly,
and allied groups urges passage of the Kennedy-Specter Hunger Relief Act of 1999. This
crucial legislation would help to address a serious problem plaguing millions of children
and adults — widespread hunger and food insecurity.
The bill would target Food Stamp Program improvements to ensure more adequate nutrition
assistance for at-risk groups, especially needy legal immigrants and low-income households
with children, including working families and families with children with high shelter
costs. It also would provide greater resources through The Emergency Food Assistance
Program (TEFAP) for those families, children, and elderly turning to food pantries and
other emergency feeding sites.
Recent studies confirm that, despite a strong overall economy, hunger and food insecurity are prevalent in communities across the country. While participation in the Food Stamp Program declined by more than seven million persons over the past three years, many working parents still struggle to feed their families. A July 1999 GAO study concludes, "children's participation in the Food Stamp Program has dropped more sharply than the number of children living in poverty, indicating a growing gap between need and assistance." USDA has determined that 6.1 million adults and 3.3 million children lived in households which experienced hunger during 1998, and hunger rates are highest in households with children led by single women and minorities. An Urban Institute study of former welfare recipients finds that 33% have to skip or cut meals due to lack of food.
The toll hunger takes on individuals, families, and communities is serious. Children who lack adequate daily nutrition score lower on tests, miss school more often, have more disciplinary difficulties, and face increased health risks. Hunger diminishes adults' health and ability to concentrate as well. And hunger diminishes all of us as a society when we allow hunger in the midst of such affluence. Hunger has a cure and our nation must take steps to implement that cure.
This legislation takes several important steps in alleviating hunger. First, it builds on the bipartisan down payment the 1998 Agricultural Research Act made in restorations of benefits for needy legal immigrants. The Hunger Relief Act restores food stamp eligibility to all otherwise eligible legal immigrants. Among these are taxpayers working in low-income jobs, parents of young children, and elderly persons.
Second, the bill updates food stamp rules. Most low-income parents need a car to get to work, but families who own a vehicle worth more than $4,650 may be disqualified from receiving food stamps. This limit has risen only $150 since 1977, and is less than the amount that most states deem appropriate for allowing working parents to own a reliable car and still qualify for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program. The Hunger Relief Act allows states the option of using the same rules to count the value of a vehicle under both TANF and Food Stamp Programs.
Third, the bill helps low-income families with children with high shelter costs. In order to allow food stamp allotments to more accurately reflect actual household need, the Food Stamp Program takes into account a household's shelter expenses when determining the household's food stamp allotment. The Program does this by allowing households to deduct shelter costs from their income. Current food stamp rules, however, cap the amount of shelter costs ($275 now, $300 starting in FY 2001) that non-elderly, non-disabled households may deduct, leaving many families with children forced to choose between heating and eating. The Hunger Relief Act raises the food stamp shelter deduction cap to $340 per month over four years and then indexes it to inflation.
Fourth, the Hunger Relief Act bolsters TEFAP, which since 1983 has leveraged private and volunteer resources in communities across the country to meet short-term nutrition needs of families in crisis and provided an outlet for excess government-owned commodities. As many as one in ten Americans a year turn to the emergency feeding network. Last December the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported that requests for emergency food assistance had increased by an average of 14%, with 78% of the cities registering increases. According to a report released by America's Second Harvest in 1998, 39% of those who sought emergency food were employed, with half of those employed full-time. The private charitable sector cannot meet present needs alone. The Hunger Relief Act authorizes additional appropriations of $100 million over five years for commodity purchases and food distribution costs, approximately 10% more than present spending.
The Hunger Relief Act would make important progress in addressing hunger in America.
Primary Senate sponsor: Bob Graham (D-FL).
Primary House sponsors: Bill Coyne (D-PA) and Sander Levin (D-MI)
Lack of information to potentially eligible clients and overly restrictive state practices were identified by the General Accounting Office (GAO) as among factors contributing to the 27% drop in Food Stamp Program participation in the last three and a half years. According to GAO, "There is a growing gap between the number of children living in poverty—an important indicator of children's need for food assistance—and the number of children receiving food stamp assistance." The FORK Act: