Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Advocacy United Way of Pennsylvania www.uwp.org

Agenda Overview of the Farm Bill and SNAP How SNAP impacts Pennsylvanians UWP messaging around SNAP Advocacy efforts to protect SNAP United Way of Pennsylvania www.uwp.org

Overview of the Farm Bill and SNAP United Way of Pennsylvania

What is the Farm Bill and why does it matter? The Farm Bill is the major agriculture and food legislation providing policies and programs that help support the United State’s agriculture economy and supports rural communities Revisited every 5 years by Congress for reauthorization What does the Farm Bill do: Provides a safety net to farmers and ranchers; Provides funding for conservation programs; Promotes agricultural exports; Support producers of fruits and vegetables; Provides opportunities for better health; Helps support economic development for rural areas of the state; and Provides funding to promote infrastructure United Way of Pennsylvania www.uwp.org

Overview of SNAP

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) What is SNAP? SNAP, was formally known as the Food Stamp Program, is the nation’s largest anti-hunger program. Program provides timely, targeted, and temporary support to low-income households for the purchase of food. How does SNAP work? SNAP serves households with income up to 130% of the federal poverty line that meet asset limitations. SNAP amounts are based on the Thrifty Food Plan Average month SNAP benefit per person in 2017 was about $126, roughly $4.13 a day or $1.38 per meal Benefits are delivered monthly through an EBT to allow only the purchase of food United Way of Pennsylvania www.uwp.org

Impacts of SNAP in Pennsylvania

How Does SNAP Impact Pennsylvania? In FY 2017, SNAP reached 1,843,000 of residents (14% of the population) Over 63% of SNAP participants are in families with children Nearly 42% SNAP participants are in families with members who are elderly or are disabled Over 44% of participants are in working families 90% of eligible individuals participated in SNAP in 2015 and 78% of eligible workers participated

How Does SNAP Impact Pennsylvania? Many PA households struggle to put food on the table: 12.5% of households were “food insecure,” or struggled to afford a nutritional diet 12.9% of the population lived below the poverty line 18.1% of children lived below the poverty line 7.8% of elderly lived below the poverty line SNAP kept thousands of Pennsylvanians out of poverty 10,400 authorized retail locations are available for SNAP recipients to purchase food from

UWP SNAP Messaging

Goals of United Way of Pennsylvania and our Network Protect and strengthen SNAP to maintain its responsiveness to combat hunger and provide financial stability Ensure policies promote access and facilitate enrollment rather than create roadblocks

SNAP Supports Work and the Economy SNAP helps stretch working families’ budgets to provide the basics. SNAP helps workers who have fallen on tough times in-between work SNAP enrollment is counter-cyclical making it one of the most responsive programs in stabilizing families For every $1 increase in household SNAP generates about $1.70 in economic activity

SNAP is Efficient, Temporary, and Reduces Poverty SNAP has a rigorous systems to determine eligibility upfront SNAP is accurate, with more than 96% of SNAP benefits issued correctly to eligible households 73% of SNAP participants are from households at or below the federal poverty level Between 2009 and 2012, SNAP kept an average of 342,000 people out of poverty in PA More than 80% of SNAP participants are working in the year before or after getting SNAP

SNAP Helps People from Vulnerable Populations and All Communities On average, SNAP reaches 944,462 households per month SNAP helps 1 of 8 rural and metro households and 1 of 7 small town households In PA, nearly 700,000 of the people on SNAP are children About 185,000 of PA’s SNAP beneficiaries are seniors Seniors who are enrolled in SNAP have better health About 688,000 PA SNAP participants are people with disabilities

Advocacy to Support SNAP

How to Engage in SNAP Advocacy Send a letter to PA’s congressional delegation and ask your staff/donors/volunteers to engage Ask for SNAP stories from your communities Share social media messages to engage your followers on SNAP

How to Engage in SNAP Advocacy Plan an op-ed or LTE to discuss the impacts of SNAP in Pennsylvania and your community Plan to include SNAP education in already planned events relating to food security Utilize tools available on UWP’s members’ only page for education to your boards, volunteers, donors, and partner agencies Respond to UWP’s calls-to-action as they are sent out