by Triada Stampas

The "Fiscal Cliff" deal struck by Congress at the start of 2013 made a number of changes to the tax code – many of them beneficial for residents with low household income, especially low-income families. With Food Bank research finding 70 percent of low-income families in New York City struggling to afford food, this comes as positive news for the New Year. Regrettably, alongside these gains, Congress enacted immediate and dramatic funding cuts to nutrition education programming for these same families, including our own CookShop and Just Say Yes to Fruits and Vegetables programs. Significantly, the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), as it was called, extended several important provisions that were set to expire, including expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, a higher credit rate for the Dependent Care Tax Credit, as well as the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps families pay for college. In addition, ATRA prevented an increase in taxes from kicking in for individuals earning less than $400,000 (and married couples filing jointly earning less than $450,000). Although some of these gains may be offset by the two-point increase in the payroll tax deduction, combined, these changes mean low-income tax filers will not see their tax rates increase or their available tax credits drop. In a surprise move, however, Congress decided to make an immediate 48 percent cut to this year's remaining funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) – a loss of more than $4.8 million for New York State's nutrition education programs that provide SNAP (food stamp)-eligible New Yorkers with the knowledge, resources and skills to make healthy food choices on a limited budget. While Food Bank will make every effort to minimize the impact of this loss on the more than 100,000 New Yorkers our nutrition education programs reach, a mid-year funding cut of this magnitude can't help but be felt. Worse yet, if Congress does not act, more cuts are on the horizon: WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) is scheduled for an eight percent cut on March 1, and SNAP benefits (food stamps) are threatened in the ongoing Farm Bill negotiations. If these benefits are slashed, more New Yorkers struggling to keep food on the table will be forced to turn to our city's already overwhelmed food pantries and soup kitchens. Your advocacy can help. Please contact your Representatives today and tell them to restore SNAP-Ed funding in the next fiscal cliff deal, and protect WIC and SNAP from cuts!

Triada Stampas is Senior Director of Government Relations at Food Bank For New York City

Help Save Critical Food Assistance In NYC

by Triada Stampas

Federal spending cuts have slashed the single biggest source of emergency food in New York City. This year alone, food pantries and soup kitchens across the five boroughs lost a staggering 11 million meals, depriving those residents in most desperate need. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) has been the mainstay of New York City’s emergency food network, constituting nearly half of the food that is distributed to low-income New Yorkers in past years. Food pantries and soup kitchens have told us they used to plan their meals around the food available in TEFAP; right now, their shelves are nearly bare.

Facing a shortfall of 11 million meals, emergency food providers are being forced to stretch resources and reduce services at a time of unprecedented need.

Nearly 3 million New York City residents have difficulty affording food. Households with children, the unemployed and low-income New Yorkers are struggling the most. Those 11 million meals could have gone to children, seniors and others in need – instead, food pantries and soup kitchens are coping with unprecedented need while their main source of food has dwindled.

Emergency food cuts have stricken communities in all five boroughs, with losses averaging 37 percent.

• Bronx: 2.2 million meals lost
• Brooklyn: 3.8 million meals lost
• Manhattan: 1.4 million meals lost
• Queens: 3.0 million meals lost
• Staten Island: 0.4 million meals lost

You can help. There are two things you can do to help us out of this crisis:

Advocate. The Farm Bill, our nation’s key anti-hunger legislation, is up for renewal this year. Critical food resources like TEFAP and the food stamp program (SNAP) are at stake. Contact your representatives in Washington and tell them to help keep food on the table for our neighbors in need.

Donate. The long-term relief needed from the Farm Bill will take months or longer to materialize. Your donations will provide immediate help for those at risk of going hungry.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

by Triada Stampas

Last week saw major developments in the Farm Bill, the federal legislation that sets funding and policy for safety net nutrition programs as well as agriculture and conservation programs for a five-year period. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted to approve a draft Farm Bill that would cut $4.5 billion from food stamp (SNAP) benefits.

In New York City, this cut would reduce the monthly SNAP allotments of 190,000 low-income households living in public housing or receiving federal Section 8 housing vouchers. (The average income of a household living in public housing in New York City is less than $23,000.)

New York’s only member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand, voted against this bill on the grounds that it would harm some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, and will be bringing an amendment to the Senate floor to protect children in SNAP households from cuts that may remain in the final bill.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill draft does make improvements to the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides the main source of food to our city’s soup kitchens and food pantries. The improvements appear significant on first glance – adding $150 million in mandatory funding and giving the federal government explicit authority to purchase additional TEFAP food in response to increases in need. However, TEFAP has already lost $175 million this year. It is clear that, on balance, emergency food providers will be coping with even fewer resources to confront the increased need created by cuts to SNAP.

What happens next? The bill will be brought to the floor of the Senate, where our legislators will have the opportunity to offer additional amendments before they vote on it. The House of Representatives must also develop and approve its version of the Farm Bill; the difference between each chamber’s version must then be reconciled and a consensus proposal adopted.

What can you do?

1. Call your Senators and Representatives and let them know cuts to SNAP are not acceptable!
2. Join Mario Batali and take the Food Stamp Challenge to raise awareness about this critical lifeline.
3. Spread the word to your family, friends and coworkers through Facebook and Twitter.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

by Triada Stampas

Three weeks ago, the Food Bank reached out to supporters like you to help save a critical source of support provided by the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to our most vulnerable working families.

In a cynical move to offset the cost of the payroll tax and unemployment insurance extension, the House proposed cutting CTC refunds that benefit low-income, working families who file their taxes with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) rather than Social Security numbers.

Thanks to the actions of advocates like you, Congress protected this critical benefit which, simply put, helps keep food on the table for working families.

Though, in the end, Congress agreed not to require spending cuts to offset the extensions, Congress responded to the need for funding by initiating the auction of public airwaves for wireless Internet systems.

By removing a proposed cut that would have hurt our country’s most vulnerable, working families and identifying a revenue generating initiative that will speed digital communications, Congress has provided a perfect example of a fact that often goes unstated in Washington – we can reduce spending without hurting low-income Americans.

The Food Bank would like to thank our advocates for helping to save the Child Tax Credit! Please take a moment to visit our advocacy page for other actions you can take in support of New Yorkers in need.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Triada Stampas

In order to pay for improvements to school meals programs in 2010, Congress and President Obama cut $2.2 billion from future food stamp (SNAP) benefits under the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.”

Signing the bill into law, President Obama promised to restore the funds. Last week in his budget request, he did just that, aiming to ensure no family loses the resources they need to provide food for themselves and their children.

In addition to the restoration of food stamp funding, the President’s fiscal year budget protects the nutrition safety net at a time when millions of Americans still grapple with unemployment and wage stagnation. Some highlights of the budget request include:

• Increasing support for food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) by $9.25 million to keep up with rising food prices;
• Fully funding school meal programs; • Designating funds to address food deserts, which means the lack of access to healthy, affordable food in low-income communities;
• Adequately funding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to support the 9.1 million participants expected this year.

The President’s budget request is a promising starting point for federal budget negotiations. Over the next several months, Congress will hold hearings, propose alternative funding plans and ultimately vote on a final budget that may look much different from the version President Obama presented.

While the past year has seen a number of threats to SNAP and TEFAP , we remain hopeful that Congress maintains the strong support for nutrition programs laid out in the President’s budget. To make your voice heard, contact your senators and representatives and tell them to support these essential nutrition assistance programs.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Triada Stampas

This past Wednesday, I traveled to Albany to attend Governor Andrew Cuomo’s second State of the State address. I was overjoyed to hear the governor highlight child hunger and come out forcefully against one of the biggest problems in our state’s low-income benefits programs – the practice of fingerprinting during the application process for food stamps.

Since I couldn’t say it better myself, here is what the governor said:

“For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go to bed hungry. Statewide, 1 in 6 children live in homes without enough food on the table. Yet 30 percent of New Yorkers eligible for food stamps — over 1.4 million people — do not receive them, leaving over $1 billion in federal funds unclaimed every year.

“We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food. No child should go hungry in the great State of New York and we will do all that we can to prevent it.”

In addition to calling for increased participation and the removal of barriers and stigma – including finger-imaging – from the food stamp program, he also called for a number of other initiatives that will help us and those we serve, including:

• improving food access in food deserts;
• foreclosure relief and tenant protection;
• setting up a health insurance exchange to provide more New Yorkers with insurance and lessen healthcare costs;
• and reducing (or, for some, eliminating) the state income tax burden on low-income New Yorkers.

It will take a lot of work to make all of this happen. But the fact that these issues all made it into this year’s address means that these are the items Governor Cuomo has pledged to prioritize and devote resources to seeing done.

We don’t see this happen every day, and we will be doing everything we can in the coming months and year to help make sure that true progress is made.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Triada Stampas

This past Wednesday, I traveled to Albany to attend Governor Andrew Cuomo’s second State of the State address.  I was overjoyed to hear the governor highlight child hunger and come out forcefully against one of the biggest problems in our state’s low-income benefits programs – the practice of fingerprinting during the application process for food stamps.

Since I couldn’t say it better myself, here is what the governor said:

“For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go to bed hungry. Statewide, 1 in 6 children live in homes without enough food on the table. Yet 30 percent of New Yorkers eligible for food stamps — over 1.4 million people — do not receive them, leaving over $1 billion in federal funds unclaimed every year.

“We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food. No child should go hungry in the great State of New York and we will do all that we can to prevent it.”

In addition to calling for increased participation and the removal of barriers and stigma – including finger-imaging – from the food stamp program, he also called for a number of other initiatives that will help us and those we serve, including:

• improving food access in food deserts;
• foreclosure relief and tenant protection;
• setting up a health insurance exchange to provide more New Yorkers with insurance and lessen healthcare costs;
• and reducing (or, for some, eliminating) the state income tax burden on low-income New Yorkers.

It will take a lot of work to make all of this happen. But the fact that these issues all made it into this year’s address means that these are the items Governor Cuomo has pledged to prioritize and devote resources to seeing done.

We don’t see this happen every day, and we will be doing everything we can in the coming months and year to help make sure that true progress is made.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Triada Stampas

Though it does not seem likely that the Congressional supercommittee in charge of reducing the national deficit by $1.2 trillion over ten years will be able to come together with a solution, they have not actually failed yet.

The supercommittee has until this Wednesday – the day before Thanksgiving – to produce a bill.

What are the stakes if the supercommittee is able to mend their differences? In their negotiations, all federal government programs will be fair game for cuts, restructuring or elimination. This would include the programs that are the foundations of our country’s hunger safety net – the food stamp program (SNAP), and the federal emergency food assistance program (TEFAP), which is the single largest source of emergency food in New York City and has comprised approximately half of the food distributed by the Food Bank For New York City in recent years.

So, then, what if the increasingly likely prospect that the supercommittee is unable to agree on a bill comes to pass? In that case, automatic across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion will take effect on January 1, 2013. Half of those cuts will be in non-defense programs, with certain exemptions (including programs such as TEFAP, SNAP and the Section 8 housing benefit). However, other essential programs that low-income Americans rely on including WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) and community development block grants would be included in the cuts.

Right now, the leadership of the Agricultural Committee has provided a proposal to the Supercommittee that would restrict the ability of states to coordinate LIHEAP, the home heating subsidy, with food stamps. This “Heat or Eat” program, allows the 14 states that currently implement it to adjust the formula used to calculate food stamp benefits in order to provide Americans who struggle to keep the heat on over the winter months with a greater food stamp benefit so that they do not have to chose between keeping the heat on an keeping food on the table.

This proposed restriction would result in $4.2 billion in cuts to food stamp benefits nationwide. It would primarily affect people in public housing, seniors and people with disabilities. It would affect approximately 90,000 households in NYC alone, each of which would lose on average more than $100 in monthly food stamp benefits.

Both options put low-income Americans in distinct danger at every step of the deficit reduction process. It is important that we tell our legislators now that they need to protect our most vulnerable neighbors during deficit reduction. Help the Food Bank remind those in Congress that cutting these programs and forcing low-income individuals to choose between food or heat in the winter months is not an option.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Daniel Buckley

Earlier this month, when one of the worst storms in recent history laid waste to large swaths of land from Virginia to Vermont, thousands of families were dislocated, experienced flood damage or lost power for several days. Some Congress Members, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, suggested that disaster aid distributed by the government should be offset by an equal amount of federal spending cuts.

You may be asking what this has to do with the Food Bank For New York City. Well, first, Congress passed a major, $2.4-trillion deficit reduction bill this summer that puts funding for programs that provide assistance to our most vulnerable neighbors at risk, so when discussion turns to additional federal spending cuts, we pay close attention. Second, as a key piece of our city’s disaster response network, we care deeply about the operations of government relief programs.

But perhaps most importantly, this move to require spending cuts in order to provide emergency relief for Americans hurt by a natural disaster is a poignant example of the importance of our country’s entitlement programs – including food stamps (SNAP) – which could be threatened in D.C.’s deficit reduction talks.

The annual budgets of entitlement programs are not set in stone. The reason for this is that entitlement programs are designed to respond to changing conditions, growing when need increases and shrinking when no longer needed, unencumbered by budget limitations or political infighting.

In the days after the storm, as families assessed the damage, New York and other affected states began issuing replacement SNAP benefits to food stamp recipients who lost food purchased with their food stamps as a result of the storm – an effort that the Food Bank worked hard to support in areas of New York City that experienced power outages. . In the hardest hit areas, Disaster SNAP extended benefits to households that suddenly found themselves in need of food assistance.

If SNAP were not an entitlement program, this immediate response to a spike in need would not be possible. If the SNAP budget were limited or cut so that it could no longer have this flexibility, it would take an act of Congress to authorize emergency spending – and families in need would have to go without food assistance while waiting for that process to conclude. If your county was hit by a sudden storm like Irene, if large layoffs were experienced after an unexpected recession or if you simply fell on hard times, programs like SNAP are there to make sure you and your family will have enough to eat.

While the similarities between hurricane relief and the relief the Food Bank provides year-round to New Yorkers in need may not be immediately apparent – both must be able to assess the level of need in affected communities and respond in kind. If this is not allowed to happen without obstruction, people could be forced to go without the food they need to get by and recover.

Want your elected officials to protect important food assistance programs? Send a message to Congress now!

By Triada Stampas

The spending-reduction deal Congress and the President struck this week to avoid defaulting on the national debt (the Budget Control Act of 2011 ) leaves every federally funded program – including those that make up our social safety net – vulnerable to deep cuts, restructuring or elimination. With the recession having left low-income households even further behind, the nation’s poor can ill withstand the unraveling of that safety net.

Federal government programs fall into one of two categories: “entitlement,” for which funding is able to adjust in order to meet fluctuating levels of need, guaranteeing that benefits are provided to all people who meet the program's eligibility standards; and “discretionary,” meaning program funding must receive Congress’s approval every year. The process for reducing the deficit by at least $2.1 trillion over ten years splits the process into two phases and treats each of these categories differently:

Phase One
The debt deal sets a target of $900 billion in discretionary program cuts over 10 years, starting in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 (which begins October 1, 2011). Of this amount, $550 billion must come from non-defense discretionary spending. Essential programs like the federal emergency food program (TEFAP) – the single largest source of food distributed to our city’s soup kitchens and food pantries – may be on the chopping block. While only $21 billion will be cut in the FY 2012 budget, the cuts will increase each year over the next 10 years until the target is reached.

Phase Two: Entitlement and Discretionary Program Cuts
Next, the agreement creates a 12-member Congressional committee to identify $1.5 trillion in further cuts over 10 years. At this step in the process, all federal government programs, including TEFAP and food stamps (SNAP), will be fair game for cuts, restructuring or elimination. The Committee will move quickly: it must produce a plan before Thanksgiving for Congress to approve by December 23, 2011 in order to avoid triggering across-the-board cuts.

If the committee fails to produce a bill or the bill doesn’t pass, automatic across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion will take effect on January 1, 2013. Half of those cuts will be in non-defense programs, with certain exemptions (including SNAP benefits and child nutrition programs).

The programs that low-income Americans rely on are in danger at every step of this process, and the next four months will be absolutely critical. Even before this agreement was reached, the House of Representatives had already passed an Agriculture Appropriations bill for FY 2012 that would provide 10 million fewer meals for New Yorkers in need – under this new budget-slashing mandate, however, the impact on low-income New Yorkers could be far, far worse. With the cuts spaced out over ten years, the Food Bank is committed to protecting the New Yorkers we serve in the long run.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.