Hunger advocacy groups are urging Oregonians to speak out if they are concerned about cuts to food, health care, and housing assistance programs proposed by Congress.
According to the Oregon Center for Public Policy, Congress is considering proposals to reduce SNAP benefits and free school meals for students, as well as cut health care and rental assistance programs.
About one in every six Oregonians receives SNAP benefits, and roughly one-quarter use Medicaid.
According to Alejandro Queral of the OCPP, the proposals do not really aim to reduce waste and fraud, as the Administration claims. Instead, according to Queral, they are about tax cuts.
“Extending those tax cuts from 2017 to the very rich will add to the deficit, and will have a direct impact on people’s lives.”
One proposal on the table would reduce SNAP benefits for more than 700,000 Oregonians by changing how they are calculated.
Queral stated that another would eliminate free school meals for 12 million children across the country, as well as the Summer Food Service Program. Queral believes that funding such programs is the federal government’s responsibility.
“What the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are proposing is, in essence, playing a budget ‘trick’ by shifting those costs to the state.”
Queral cited research showing that policies implemented during the pandemic, such as the Child Tax Credit, resulted in a record drop in poverty across the country in 2021. When the policies were repealed, he claims the country experienced a record increase in poverty the following year.
