SCHUMER - WITH HUDSON VALLEY RELIGIOUS LEADERS, FARMERS AND FOOD BANKS- SAYS GOP JUST VOTED TO RIP AWAY NEARLY $300 BILLION FROM AMERICA’S LARGEST ANTI-HUNGER PROGRAM, AND THAT COULD LEAD TO THOUSANDS OF HUDSON VALLEY KIDS, SENIORS, AND FAMILIES GOING WITHOUT FOOD; SENATOR DEMANDS NY REPUBLICANS BLOCK BIGGEST CUT TO FOOD ASSISTANCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York Serves 170,000 In Hudson Valley Every Month And Already Nearly 1 Million Pounds Of Food Has Been Canceled Due To Trump’s Cruel USDA Cuts – And This Week The GOP Voted To Take ~$300 Billion From SNAP To Fund Trump’s Tax Breaks For Corporations & Billionaires, Which Will Lead To Families With Kids As Young As 7 Getting Kicked Off The Program
Schumer, With Church Leaders & Advocates, Say Double Whammy Will Hurtle Hudson Valley To A Hunger Crisis, Impacting 200,000+ In Orange, Rockland, Westchester And Across Region, Millions Nationwide; Senator With Those On Frontline Of Getting Food To The Needy Demands GOP Block Cruel Cut To SNAP And Protect Anti-Hunger Programs
Schumer: No Child Should Go To Bed Hungry. This Is Not A Partisan Issue; This Is A Moral Issue
After House Republicans voted for the largest cut to the anti-hunger program SNAP in American history, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer stood with Hudson Valley religious leaders, food banks, and farmers to demand action against the devastating $300 billion SNAP to fund Trump’s tax cuts for corporations & billionaires, that would leave thousands of seniors, families, and children hungry. The senator joined with church leaders and hunger advocates to emphasize how this is a moral issue that we should all unite to stop, and demanded that NY House Republicans stand against stealing from SNAP, which over 200,000 in the Hudson Valley rely on for food.
“No child should ever go to bed hungry. But Trump’s slashing of anti-hunger programs at the USDA has already cancelled nearly a million pounds of food for the Hudson Valley Food Bank in Montgomery and Feeding Westchester. Now, House Republicans are trying to make the largest cut to SNAP in history which could hurtle Hudson Valley families to a hunger crisis,” said Senator Schumer. “Stealing from SNAP to pay for Trump’s tax breaks for corporations & billionaires is as backwards as it gets, and will result in thousands of kids, seniors, and families going hungry. Instead of feeding the hungry, they are feeding corporate greed.”
Schumer added, “This is not a partisan issue, it is a moral issue. That is why I am here to show what these cuts mean for our local churches and food banks on the frontlines of fighting against hunger. It only takes a few NY House Republicans to join us to stop this cruel cut to SNAP. We need NY Republicans to protect these programs and block this bill, otherwise it will be families here in the Hudson Valley that go hungry.”
Schumer explained how Trump’s USDA has already cruelly canceled $1 billion in food assistance, hurting the Regional Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, and if these SNAP cuts move forward it would be a double whammy, hurtling us to a hunger crisis. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a lifeline for nearly 3 million NY seniors, veterans and families who rely on the critical funding to purchase groceries. Schumer said that we should be investing more not less in anti-hunger programs, but under the Republican proposal, the average family would be reduced to just $5.00 per day per person. A breakdown of SNAP recipients in the Hudson Valley from the Center for American Progress can be found below:
|
County |
SNAP Recipients |
% of County on SNAP |
SNAP Retailers |
|
Dutchess |
4,559 |
6% |
168 |
|
Orange |
40,035 |
9.8% |
273 |
|
Putnam |
3,487 |
2.5% |
33 |
|
Rockland |
43,843 |
12.9% |
159 |
|
Sullivan |
13,347 |
16.7% |
121 |
|
Ulster |
18,039 |
9.9% |
154 |
|
Westchester |
77,237 |
7.8% |
567 |
|
TOTAL |
200,547 |
1,475 |
Earlier this week, House Republicans advanced a bill that would rip $300 billion away from SNAP. This proposal would impact Hudson Valley residents in many ways, including the addition of a work requirement which would raise the age to access SNAP benefits from age 55 to age 64 and only exempt SNAP recipients from work requirements if they have someone younger than 7 years old in their household, down from the current exemption for all families with children under 18 years old.
Schumer said, “I’m all for reducing any waste or fraud to make the program more efficient, but rushing to pass these massive damaging cuts with no plan while they slash our food banks is a recipe for disaster. Republicans a tying themselves in knots trying to justify these massive cuts. I ask my Republican friends this: which category does a hungry 7 year old fall under: are they waste? Are they fraud? Or are they abuse?”
Schumer explained the Republican proposal to cut $300 billion from SNAP would inevitably mean costs of feeding families shift to states, who simply do not have the capacity to absorb this massive increase in expenses, risking families going hungry. Under this Republican proposal, states would be required to pay 5 – 25% of their state’s SNAP benefits based on the state’s error rate. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), mandating New York State to cover even a modest share of SNAP benefits would shift astronomical costs to the state, with even just 5% increasing New York State’s costs by nearly $3.5 billion from FY2026 to FY2034. The senator said it is impossible to cut this much from federal SNAP funding without ripping food away from hungry children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and more.
These agonizing decisions would be amplified even further at the local level, with non-profits, many of whom have already had their funding cut, unable to fill in the gap. Counties could even be forced to shoulder the burden of increased costs in SNAP, using more local dollars to provide coverage because less federal funding will be coming in. During recessions or economic downturns, these impacts will be even more acute, as more people apply for benefits and state revenue declines, more children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and more will be turned away from this vital program due to insufficient federal funding.
According to CBPP, 13,000 people in NY-18 reside in households with adults ages 18-64 with school-age children and are at risk of losing some SNAP benefits under this Republican proposal. 8,000 people in NY-17 reside in households with adults ages 18-64 with school-age children and are at risk of losing some SNAP benefits if the current proposal becomes law, according to CBPP.
The proposed SNAP cuts would be a blow to Hudson Valley food banks which have already been hit hard by Trump’s funding freezes and canceled payments. Earlier this year, the USDA canceled $1 billion in food assistance for organizations to purchase locally grown food. USDA programs provide food banks, schools, and other organizations with federal support to purchase local food products from NY farms.
Trump’s USDA cuts have already hit the Hudson Valley hard. According to the Albany Times Union, the Regional Food Bank of the Hudson Valley said it will deliver 2 million fewer meals to people in need. The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, which covers 23 counties including the Hudson Valley, has already had 27 tractor-trailers of food canceled, which is nearly 1 million pounds meant to feed Capital Region families. That’s nearly 800,000 meals, and the food bank expects to lose over 200 tractor-trailers over the next year. According to the Journal News, the food bank’s Hudson Valley branch in Montgomery serves approximately 170,000 people every month across the Hudson Valley counties it serves. Due to a predicted drop in food through USDA programs, the food bank expects to distribute 2 million fewer meals. In addition, this past week, it was reported by News12 that Feeding Westchester has had a million pounds of food shipments canceled due to existing federal cuts. These cuts are exacerbating food insecurity and forcing food banks to rely on donations instead of a steady supply of resources from area producers.
Schumer said these proposed cuts will limit food banks’ ability to keep shelves stocked as more people have been forced to rely on food banks to feed their families. Food bank workers and religious leaders across Upstate New York are concerned about the impact of potential cuts to SNAP on the people they serve, and farmers are worried there will be nowhere to sell their food if SNAP funding levels drop.
“No matter which way you slice it, this Congressional Republican plan will screw Hudson Valley families, food banks and farmers from farm to table. We need everyone to stand up to these cuts that would take away food from our neighbors in need,” added Schumer.
"My thanks to Senator Schumer for highlighting this critical issue. Cutting funding to food assistance programs as New York--and many other states--face an affordability crisis is truly odious public policy. These cuts would be particularly painful after funding for schools and food banks has already been brutally slashed. Those funding shortfalls affect not only school children and families in need, but the New York farmers and producers who supply food through federal programs. These cuts--and those pending--threaten the livelihood and safety of many New Yorkers, and I'm horrified that this administration has deemed funding corporate giveaways more important than feeding hungry Americans," said New York State Senator James Skoufis.
“To date, we’ve lost 1 million pounds due to USDA cuts - the equivalent of 750,000 meals - with an expected 6 million more slated to be cut by the end of 2025,” said Felicia Kalan, the Regional Food Bank’s Executive Vice President, Hudson Valley. “With neighbors already facing difficult decisions between paying for housing, medical care, or food, further cuts could devastate families, children, and seniors served by the Regional Food Bank’s network of partner agencies and programs. The meal gap is growing across the country, and all across New York, and the Regional Food Bank is fully committed to addressing this challenge.”
“SNAP is our nation’s most powerful tool in the fight against hunger,” said Karen C. Erren, President & CEO of Feeding Westchester. “For every meal the Feeding America network of 200 food banks provides, SNAP delivers nine. With grocery prices already out of reach for too many of our neighbors and the rising cost of food and health care, now is not the time to scale back essential programs. Cuts to SNAP would be devastating for the millions of families, seniors, veterans, and children who rely on this vital support to make ends meet. Neighbors in our community are doing everything in their power to put food on the table – but they need a strong foundation to succeed. Access to food and health care is that foundation. Now is the time to come together to preserve and strengthen SNAP.”
“As Mayor of the City of Newburgh, I cannot stand by while Republicans in Washington play politics with fundamental human needs. The House's proposal to slash $300 billion in SNAP benefits - and President Trump's relentless assault on the social safety net - are not just policy choices; they are moral failures. These devastating cuts to SNAP would rip food from the mouths of children, seniors, and working families in Newburgh, all to bankroll tax breaks for the wealthy. These unconscionable cuts will deepen inequality when we should be building a nation where no one is forced to choose between rent and their next meal,” said Newburgh Mayor Torrance Harvey.
Proposed rollbacks to the country’s most widely utilized nutrition assistance program would strain budgets for Hudson Valley families. Schumer said decimating funding for SNAP right as costs at grocery stores across the country are skyrocketing will hit the Hudson Valley hard. According to the New York State Community Action Association, 12% of people in Orange County live in poverty, including more than 18% of children. According to No Kid Hungry, over half of New Yorkers reported going into debt in the past year due to rising food costs, with over 60% of families with children. Tariffs
SNAP not only supplements families’ food budgets, it has also generated great economic benefits for New York State and NY-18 specifically. According to the National Grocers Association, grocery stores across New York State sold over $2.1 billion in groceries to people using SNAP benefits, including $99.7 million in NY-18. This created more than 18,500 New York jobs in the grocery industry, including 890 in NY-18, and generated more than $820.8 million in grocery industry wages, including $39.4 million in NY-18.
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