SNAP brought $670 million into our state in 2017. That's all federal benefits. That's money spent at grocery stores, farmers markets, rural communities that is going directly into our economy. Every dollar spent generates $1.70 in economic activity. If you think what's on the table on the federal budget Maybe you've all heard about converting SNAP into a food box. There's lot of reasons why that's a bad idea, and probably not likely to happen...What that would really mean economically for our state is hundreds of millions of dollars lost in economic activity. Sovereign Hager, supervising attorney at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
Sovereign Hager, supervising attorney at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. was one of three guest speakers at the Bread for the World Offering of Letters in Albuquerque on March 17.
Ms. Hager's 16-minute presentation was packed with information about state policies regarding SNAP and other public benefits, President Trump's plan for SNAP and the possibilities for nutrition programs in the upcoming debate for the 2018 Farm Bill.
Ms. Hager, whose focus is on protecting and improving the public benefits safety net for struggling families in New Mexico, spoke about the importance of SNAP for families who are working or seeking work.
"Most of the people who are on SNAP that can work, do. The vast majority of people on SNAP, kids, other adults, are in households where someone is working. This is supporting working families when wages are low, when they can't get full-time hours, which is really common, and it's a critical support to work... SNAP is really there for stability when people are struggling."We will post videos from our two other speakers in a blog post on Monday.
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