Senate Budget Resolution Slashes Safety Net Programs to Benefit the Wealthy

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On Thursday, October 19, the Senate passed their FY 18 budget resolution. The Senate’s plan, which shares much of the House Budget’s architecture, puts forward a road map for Congress to enact tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations while adding the $1.5 trillion cost of those tax cuts to budget deficits—which will force deep reductions to SNAP and other core programs down the road.

To pay for these tax cuts, everyday Californians could face significant losses of critical benefits that help our state’s working families, children, seniors and other vulnerable populations. Health coverage through Medicaid, food assistance that helps ensure that struggling families don’t go hungry, medical research that helps cure diseases, and infrastructure that helps businesses move goods to market are all on the chopping block. Now more than ever, our communities need resources to invest in education, health care, and our economy. Expensive tax cuts will deepen economic inequality and make it harder for low-income Californians to put food on the table.

In 2015 and 2016, poverty went down, incomes went up, and the share of Americans who lack health insurance reached an all-time low, new Census data show. Despite these gains, California has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in the country when the cost of housing is taken into consideration. Basic assistance programs such as SNAP lift over 4 million people (including 2 million children) out of poverty and play a critical role in reducing food insecurity amongst children, seniors and adults in living in poverty.  

Food banks understand the economic and nutritional value of SNAP in our communities. Hunger exists in every corner of our state and all food banks depend on SNAP to help meet the needs of those grappling with hunger. Cuts to SNAP will worsen hunger and poverty in California, pushing us backwards and making it even harder for low-income communities to afford the basics and make ends meet.

None of that helps California’s working families get ahead. Californians are counting on Congress to pass tax policies that invest in working families and help grow our economy – not tax breaks for the wealthiest among us.