Tag: SNAP

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USDA announces new $19 billion aid package for Ag, food

Here’s the entire Friday night press conference with Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program will take several actions to assist farmers, ranchers, and consumers in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. President Trump directed USDA to craft this $19 billion immediate relief program to provide critical support to our farmers and ranchers, maintain the integrity of our food supply chain, and ensure every American continues to receive and have access to the food they need. 

USDA
President Donald Trump and Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue announce details regarding a $19 billion aid package for agriculture and the U.S. food supply chain. (photo from flipboard.com)

“During this time of national crisis, President Trump and USDA are standing with our farmers, ranchers, and all citizens to make sure they are taken care of,” Secretary Perdue said. “The American food supply chain had to adapt, and it remains safe, secure, and strong, and we all know that starts with America’s farmers and ranchers. This program will not only provide immediate relief for our farmers and ranchers, but it will also allow for the purchase and distribution of our agricultural abundance to help our fellow Americans in need.” 

CFAP will use the funding and authorities provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and other USDA existing authorities. The program includes two major elements to achieve these goals. 

  1. Direct Support to Farmers and Ranchers: The program will provide $16 billion in direct support based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted and will assist producers with additional adjustment and marketing costs resulting from lost demand and short-term oversupply for the 2020 marketing year caused by COVID-19.  
  2. USDA Purchase and Distribution: USDA will partner with regional and local distributors, whose workforce has been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities, to purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy, and meat. We will begin with the procurement of an estimated $100 million per month in fresh fruits and vegetables, $100 million per month in a variety of dairy products, and $100 million per month in meat products. The distributors and wholesalers will then provide a pre-approved box of fresh produce, dairy, and meat products to food banks, community and faith based organizations, and other non-profits serving Americans in need.

 On top of these targeted programs USDA will utilize other available funding sources to purchase and distribute food to those in need. 

  • USDA has up to an additional $873.3 million available in Section 32 funding to purchase a variety of agricultural products for distribution to food banks. The use of these funds will be determined by industry requests, USDA agricultural market analysis, and food bank needs. 
  • The FFCRA and CARES Act provided an at least $850 million for food bank administrative costs and USDA food purchases, of which a minimum of $600 million will be designated for food purchases. The use of these funds will be determined by food bank need and product availability.

 Further details regarding eligibility, rates, and other implementation will be released at a later date. Additional Background:USDA has taken action during the COVID-19 national emergency to make sure children and families are fed during a time of school closures and job losses, as well as increase flexibilities and extensions in USDA’s farm programs to ensure the U.S. food supply chain remains safe and secure. Feeding Kids and Families

  • USDA expanded flexibilities and waivers in all 50 states and territories to ensure kids and families who need food can get it during this national emergency.
  • USDA is partnering with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo, and others to deliver more than 1,000,000 meals a week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19.
  • USDA authorized Pandemic EBT in Michigan and Rhode Island, a supplemental food purchasing benefit to current SNAP participants and as a new EBT benefit to other eligible households to offset the cost of meals that would have otherwise been consumed at school.
  • USDA expanded an innovative SNAP online grocery purchase pilot program in Arizona and California, Florida and Idaho, and DC and North Carolina, in addition to Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Actions to Ensure a Strong Food Supply Chain

Whole of Government Response in Rural America

  • USDA released The COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide, a first-of-its-kind resource for rural leaders looking for federal funding and partnership opportunities to help address this pandemic.
  • USDA opened a second application window (April 14, 2020 to July 13, 2020) for $72 million of funding under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program.
  • USDA Rural Development lenders may offer 180-day loan payment deferrals without prior agency approval for Business and Industry Loan Guarantees, Rural Energy for America Program Loan Guarantees, Community Facilities Loan Guarantees, and Water and Waste Disposal Loan Guarantees.
  • USDA will use the $100 million provided for the ReConnect Program in the CARES Act to invest in qualified 100 percent grant projects.

 For all the information on USDA’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic and resources available, please visit https://www.usda.gov/coronavirus. 

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The original intent of the SNAP program?

The SNAP program. It’s a polarizing discussion in already divided Washington, D.C. SNAP was a hot topic of discussion during a Senate hearing last week that featured the Secretary of Agriculture.

Sonny Perdue reiterated during a U.S. Senate hearing the need to restore the original intent of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program’s intent is to be “a second chance, not a way of life.” USDA published a proposed rule to move able-bodied SNAP recipients into the workforce.

The proposed rule aims to make the program into assistance through difficult times, not lifelong dependency. This proposed rule focuses on work-related program requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents. It would apply to non-disabled people between the ages of 18 and 49, who have no dependents. The rule would not apply to the elderly, the disabled, or pregnant women. Those who are eligible to receive SNAP – including the underemployed – would still qualify.

There haven’t been any statutory changes to the welfare reform legislation of 1996. The Trump Administration feels an abuse of administrative flexibility in SNAP has undermined the ideal of self-sufficiency. President Bill Clinton signed the legislation that instituted work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents.

Then-President Clinton said, “First and foremost, it should be about moving people from welfare to work. It should impose time limits on welfare… It [work] gives structure, meaning and dignity to most of our lives.”

During last week’s Senate hearing, Secretary Perdue talked about work requirements and his proposed rule. He said: “What was accepted by the U.S. Senate and passed was the same bill that’s been there since the beginning of the Welfare Reform regarding the work requirements of 20 hours per week. And what you also passed was not a prohibition, it was no change to the fact that in one section it says that the Secretary may waive that applicability and we plan to do that for the ABAWDs. We think the purpose is to help people move to independency… We should help people when they are down but that should not be interminably.”

“…You all also provided for a 12 percent cushion for states that they could use for any purpose. But, we do not believe in states where unemployment is 4 percent that ABAWDs should be able to stay on food assistance interminably.”

You may click HERE or on the image below to watch Secretary Perdue’s remarks:

SNAP was a hot and divisive topic during a Senate hearing last week in Washington, D.C.

Background:

Congress implemented this work requirement in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996.

It allowed the Secretary, upon request from a State, to waive the work requirement during times of high unemployment.

The statute provides the Secretary withe authority to determine if an area has an insufficient jobs and qualifies for a waiver. The 2018 Farm Bill did not modify that discretion .