Opinion: Cuts in SNAP Would Hurt New Mexico

The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP) and the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) are two of the strong voices in our state opposing any measures that would reduce access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for low-income and working families and individuals.

Both organizations have spoken out against restrictive measures proposed by Gov. Susana Martinez's administration. In 2015, SWOP has organized a town hall opposing unrealistic work proposals that the Martinez administration proposed for SNAP recipients. The NMCLP has fought the Martinez administration in court over the same issue and has also helped organize a coalition to oppose draconian cuts proposed in federal legislation. At the same time, NMCLP has highlighted the positive impact of SNAP on our state economy.

In a column published in The Albuquerque Journal on Sunday, May 6, entitled Cuts in SNAP bad for poor people, economy, NMCLP Managing Attorney Sovereign Hager and SWOP Executive DIrector George Lujan address the impact of the 2018 Farm Bill proposed by the House Agriculture Committee on New Mexico. The measure would severely reduce SNAP benefits.

Here are the first two paragraphs of the opinion piece.

In New Mexico, food is at the heart of our culture. In this collective identity we have a shared understanding that no one in the community should ever go hungry. Unfortunately, 20 percent of New Mexicans do not have enough to eat right now, including as many as one in three children.

The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, proposed by Republicans in Congress, would make the situation unbearably worse for our families by cutting SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – and preventing more than 120,000 New Mexicans from putting food on the table. New Mexico can simply not afford such a huge step backward.

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