Today, First Focus Campaign for Children, joined by over 80 other members of the Children’s Budget Coalition, sent the following letter to Members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate calling on them to reject damaging cuts and structural changes being proposed for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) programs.
Excerpt from the letter:
The reconciliation instructions included in the FY2025 budget resolution (H.Con.Res.14) will result in devastating consequences for far too many of our nation’s children and their families. Broadly, it predicts greater economic hardship for families with kids and other vulnerable populations, increased income inequality, and escalating deficit spending. These proposed cuts are not just numbers and the policy changes are not minor reforms – they represent real harm to children’s health, nutrition, safety, and economic security by targeting four major social safety net programs: Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and SSBG. These 4 programs— Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and SSBG— represent nearly half of all investments in children ages 0 to 3 and almost one-third of all investments in children making it seemingly inevitable that this reconciliation package will exacerbate child poverty and hunger and strip healthcare and essential assistance from low-income families with children – particularly infants and toddlers — all around the country. Deep cuts to these supports will force states and local governments to make budget tradeoffs that jeopardize the delivery of public services upon which children, families and communities rely daily.