Legislative Updates Deep Disappointment: House Passes Farm Bill, Hurting Hungry Families Christina Wong June 22, 2018 Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Email In a narrow vote of 213-211, the House passed a harsh and unworkable Farm Bill on Thursday, approving a plan to take food off the tables of over 2 million struggling Americans by cutting SNAP (or food stamps) by nearly $19 billion. We are deeply disappointed with the four members of Washington’s delegation who voted for this bill: Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, Rep. Dan Newhouse, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Rep. Dave Reichert. Their votes go against our state’s values for bipartisan solutions to ensure that all struggling Washingtonians have enough food to eat. Their votes go against the advice of a broad base of community organizations and individuals who spoke out against this bill because its policy changes are damaging to both struggling families and struggling farms. Their votes go against the best interests of their constituents as their districts have some of the highest SNAP participation rates in our state and the proposed cuts will be most keenly felt by low wage working families with children and rural communities. We are deeply appreciative of Rep. Suzan DelBene, Rep. Rick Larsen, Rep. Derek Kilmer, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Adam Smith, and Rep. Denny Heck for their unwavering opposition to the bill for the protection of all struggling Washingtonians and our family-owned farms. We are also deeply appreciative of all of you who spoke from your hearts with your Congressional members, urging them to reject this bill because our communities cannot afford the increases of hunger and poverty that these changes will no doubt create. We ask you to weigh in with your offices again in response to yesterday’s vote and then rest up this weekend because we must resume vigilance to protect SNAP again next week when the Senate begins consideration of their Farm Bill. Currently, the Senate language is well-crafted and bipartisan, investing in programs that help small, family farms and hungry individuals and families without cutting SNAP. We must ensure that no harmful amendments get added to this bill before an anticipated vote for final passage by next Thursday. For more information, please read the following statements on the House Farm Bill: Response from Northwest Harvest Response from Food Research Action Center Response from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Editorial from the Seattle Times “Christians Can’t Support House Farm Bill” from The Hill WHAT YOU CAN DO
