Statewide Sign-On Letter to Protect SNAP and Medicaid in New Mexico

The New Mexico Association of Food Banks has asked non-profit organizations, coalitions, faith groups and others to sign a letter to our congressional delegation urging our representatives and senators to oppose cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. 

The budget reconciliation package  approved by the House of  Representatives earlier this year cuts almost $300 billion in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over 10 years. According to organizations like Bread for the World, the CBPP and FRAC, this is the largest single reduction of domestic food assistance ever enacted.  A similar plan in the Senate would make similar or deeper cuts in the two very important programs. 

Here is the text of the letter.

To the Honorable Members of the New Mexico Congressional Delegation,

We, the undersigned, are writing in strong and unified opposition against the

catastrophic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and
Medicaid now being considered in the United States Congress.

Our concerns are well founded and based on decades of accumulated experience
serving communities in the fields of hunger relief, housing, medicine, education, and
many other disciplines.

We are living in a time of rising food costs, high inflation, and, for many working families,
incomes that simply cannot keep pace. Across our country and across our state,
exhausted parents are feeling the pain of putting their children to bed hungry. Seniors
who worked their whole lives are having to make a choice between buying medicine
and buying food. Veterans who served this great country with honor are scraping by to
pay rent and afford groceries.

Many low-income New Mexicans are looking to our leaders in DC to help make
everyday life easier and the American Dream more accessible to all.

Cutting over 200 billion dollars from SNAP and Medicaid to pay for tax cuts will not help
our neighbors struggling to put food on the table. Decimating funding for these popular
programs will not result in improvement or higher efficiency. It will only increase hunger,
sickness, and deepen poverty for people who are already struggling.

There are already long lines at charitable food distributions in cities and towns across
New Mexico. The number of people waiting for food in front of their local church or
community center could easily triple or quadruple with the passing of this legislation.
Rural communities could see closures of clinics and grocery stores. More people will go
without health insurance. Less people will get preventative care. This will lead to
increased emergency room visits with less compensation for hospitals and higher
charges for insured patients.

House and Senate plans to shift the costs of federal food assistance to the states could
leave New Mexico taxpayers on the hook for $255 million dollars. Many states will be
unprepared or unwilling to pay and may opt out of SNAP altogether. This will leave
millions of Americans with even less food than they have now.

New Mexico food banks and other charitable institutions cannot be expected to double
or triple the amount of food they distribute in the next few years to make up the
difference. New Mexicans with health care should not be expected to weather higher
prices for coverage. Our state’s hard working farmers should not be expected to incur
losses due to funding cuts to nutrition incentive programs like Double Up Food Bucks.

SNAP and other federal nutrition programs have a proven track record of keeping
millions out of poverty and improving food security during times of recession and crisis.
Medicaid is the backbone of New Mexico’s healthcare provider network.
Cuts to one program will undermine the effectiveness of the other.

Cuts to both will cost New Mexico billions of dollars.

As Americans, we can do better than allowing hunger and sickness to thrive in our
nation.

Now is not the time to gut these programs. Now is the time to strengthen and support
them.

We urge every member of Congress to vote against any legislation that results in cuts to
SNAP and Medicaid.

Sincerely,