President Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress have decided against using the almost $6 billion in existing contingency funds to maintain SNAP benefits on which more than 42 million Americans rely to put food on the table.
This decision contradicts the position held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as recently as late September, when the department recognized that contingency funds were appropriate to use for government shutdowns or funding lapses during the fiscal year. Republicans have also proclaimed that states who try to make up the difference will not be reimbursed for their expenditures.
In a time of increasing inflation and unemployment, the Republicans are playing political games with the lives of their constituents. The money exists to continue issuing SNAP benefits, regardless of the status of a continuing resolution for the budget. The Republicans’ callous indifference to the needs of their constituents is reprehensible.
Joanne Briwn, Madison
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Government has money to fund SNAP benefits. Republicans playing political games. | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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