November 9, 2007

1)  Farm Bill amendments to offer more resources for Food Stamps and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

2)  Senate Farm Bill Nutrition Title currently contains $5.3 billion in new five-year investments for nutrition programs.

3)  Call your Senatores toll-free, 800-826-9624, to urge their support for floor amendments to further strengthen the Food Stamp Program and TEFAP.  Your calls can mean victory for these amendments!

Your calls are important!

Message to Your Senators: Please support Senate Farm Bill (S. 2302) and floor amendments to it that provide additional funding for the Food Stamp and TEFAP programs. Specifically, urge your Senators to support further increases in food stamp benefits and steps to expand access for vulnerable people.

Nutrition Program Amendments: Several amendments currently being drafted could bolster the Nutrition Title of the Farm Bill. These amendments offer additional funding to support improvements to food stamps, TEFAP and nutrition programs. Among those working to draft and likely to introduce such proposals are: 1) Dorgan/Grassley; 2) Brown/Sununu; 3) Klobuchar/Durbin/Brown; 4) Lugar/Lautenberg; and 5) Menendez. All of the details of what will be included in such amendments are not yet clear. We will provide more information on the specific nutrition provisions when the drafts are final.

Although FRAC has not taken a position on the financing or offsets that may be included in these amendments, we urge you to weigh in to support the nutrition program improvements in these expected amendments. FRAC also supports a Harkin/Murkowski amendment that would update and significantly improve the national nutritional standards for foods and beverages sold in vending machines, school stores and other venues outside the school meal programs.

Outlook
The Farm Bill debate has started in the Senate and is expected to continue well into next week, with a number of amendments offered during consideration.

Background
The House approved its Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) on July 27. That bill provides $4.2 billion in new five-year funding for nutrition programs, mainly for food stamps and TEFAP. For food stamps, H.R. 2419, among other things, would raise the minimum benefit, increase the standard deduction, more fully reflect a food stamp household’s expenditures on child care, not count extra combat pay against military families, and allow food stamp households to have more in savings and still be program eligible -- by excluding education savings and retirement accounts and starting to index the $2,000 and $3,000 assets limits applicable to most households and households with elderly and disabled members, respectively.  H.R. 2419 also provides $250 million per year and then indexes that amount for TEFAP commodity purchases.

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted out its Farm Bill on October 25th, with $4.3 billion in new five-year funding for nutrition programs (of which $3.2 billion would support improvements in Food Stamp Program benefits and accessibility and TEFAP commodity purchases). On November 1st, Senate Agriculture Committee leaders announced a bipartisan agreement to take more than $1 billion in offsets approved in another part of the bill to further strengthen the Food Stamp minimum benefit and asset tests and to increase TEFAP funding.  In addition to the asset rule changes contained in H.R. 2419, the Senate bill would increase asset limits from $2,000 and $3,000 to $3,500 and $4,500, respectively. Several pending amendments would build on those provisions, including a boost in the minimum benefit to a more meaningful level.

Food Stamp and TEFAP Hotline
Call your Senators toll-free at 800-826-9624. You'll hear a brief explanation of what's at stake, and will then be asked for your home phone and zip code. You will choose which Senator you'd like to contact first and will be connected directly to their office. Once connected, relay the above message.

The toll-free line has been made available by AARP, and will be available throughout the Senate consideration of the Farm Bill. Join the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in spreading this toll-free number and message.

Feedback and Assistance
For feedback and/or further assistance, contact evollinger@frac.org and eteller@frac.org

Prepared by Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200 x3016; www.frac.org