FRAC's Farm Bill Reauthorization Center | Full Text of the Feeding America's Families Act | FRAC's Statement

The McGovern/Emerson “Feeding America’s Families Act” (H.R. 2129) would make a significant difference for families facing a constant struggle against hunger by improving access to the Food Stamp Program, increasing the adequacy of food stamp benefits, and bolstering the emergency food assistance system. It invests $20 billion in new five-year funding.

Increase Food Stamp Benefit Levels

• Rolls back the two significant across the board cuts enacted in 1996. Maximum benefits would be restored to 103% of the Thrifty Food Plan and the standard deduction would be returned to the 1996 levels, and indexed annually to stop all future benefit erosion. When fully phased-in, the typical working family of three would see a$37 per month benefit increase.
• Help vulnerable people stuck at the monthly minimum benefit level (raising it from $10 to $32)
• Address particular families’ needs by letting families deduct the full amount of their child care expenses, and not counting military combat pay against food stamp eligibility.

Increase Food Stamp Access

• Improve resource rules by raising asset limits and indexing them as well as exempting retirement and certain education funds from counting against financial resources.
• Provide food stamp benefits to hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants, including by eliminating a five-year waiting period that now affects many adults.
• Repeal the arbitrary time limit on food stamp eligibility for jobless, childless adults.
• Give states greater flexibility to provide food stamps to individuals reentering society.
• Extend to more clients, especially elderly, the 2002 Farm Bill state option for simplifying client reporting on changes in income and circumstances.

Food Stamp Bonuses and Grants

• Increase funds for participation grants and state bonuses for effective operations; support state expenses to test program improvements; give states an enhanced match for Disaster Food Stamp Program costs; support state efforts to expand use of food stamps at farmers’ markets.

Emergency Feeding and Other Programs

• Increase to $250 million a year and index for inflation mandatory funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); provide extra money for transportation of perishable food.
• Reauthorize the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), reauthorize the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR); authorize and fund the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows and Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program; reauthorize and index for inflation Community Food Security project grants; establish grants for community-based anti-hunger efforts.

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Prepared by Food Research and Action Center, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200; www.frac.org