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Speaker Pelosi’s new stimulus proposal wisely includes a 15% boost of SNAP’s maximum benefit. This will both help families afford food & infuse needed spending into the economy; this thread explains why. https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/the-case-for-boosting-snap-benefits-in-next-major-economic-response-package /1
Millions of people are out of work, and of the 20 million jobs lost since February, most are in industries with low wages such as retail and hospitality. Many people who were already struggling to pay bills are being pushed to the brink. /2
The loss of jobs and income has led to increased hardship: the share of households reporting difficulty affording food has nearly doubled, with over 1/3 of adults in families with kids reporting this trouble. https://www.cbpp.org/blog/covid-19-surveys-show-rapidly-rising-food-needs/3
The Labor Dept reported April unemployment rose to a record 14.7%. Economists predict a prolonged recession, with unemployment high through at least 2021. Poverty will also rise without an aggressive policy response. /4 https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/putting-the-size-of-the-needed-covid-19-fiscal-response-in-perspective
The length of the downturn is very uncertain. The best approach would keep extra SNAP benefits in place until the labor market recovers. Congress can adopt such an approach in the final package. /5
SNAP reaches low-income folks quickly. Increasing SNAP benefits helps families afford adequate food, & we know from the 2009 Recovery Act’s benefit increase that it helped lessen food insecurity during the Great Recession. /6 https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/the-case-for-boosting-snap-benefits-in-next-major-economic-response-package
Giving people money to buy food also helps stimulate the economy at a time when it’s most needed. SNAP is one of the most effective economic supports during economic downturns. /7
The bill also has other important provisions for SNAP, such as making sure the Trump Administration can’t implement rules that would push millions of people off of SNAP in a time of crisis, which would increase hardship. /8
Other key investments in nutrition assistance include improvements to the Pandemic EBT program such as including young children missing out on meals through the child care feeding program. /9
See @GreensteinCBPP’s statement for more on the Speaker’s proposal: https://www.cbpp.org/press/statements/greenstein-pelosi-package-would-provide-essential-support-for-economy-relief-to
