The USDA defines "food insecurity" as the lack of access, at times, to enough food for all household members. In 2022, an estimated 15 million households affecting 34 million Americans, including 9 million children, were food insecure. Many of these hungry people are employed. In 2013, about 30% of all adults requesting emergency food assistance had jobs. Organizations that provide food to our poor claim this is nothing new, saying that it is getting harder for many middle-class families to stay self-sufficient. More than 45 million Americans rely on stipends from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy food each month. And at least 22 million American children America rely on the free or reduced-price lunch they receive at school. The 8 states that have the highest rates of food insecurity are: Mississippi (18.7%), Louisiana (18.3%), Alabama (18.1%), New Mexico (17.6%), Arkansas (17.5%), Kentucky (17.3%), Maine (16.4%), Oklahoma (15.2%). Our most effective tool against hunger is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of H.R.1470 - Anti-Hunger Empowerment Act of 2019
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY)

• I oppose reforming current hunger policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Speaker Mike Johnson (LA).
• I support expanding access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps by:
  
  1.) Amending the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008.
  
  2.) Requiring state agencies to notify applicants of incomplete information in writing, including how to fix it.
  
  3.) Restricting state agencies from requiring an applicant to appear in person unless they fail to respond to written requests for information.
  
  4.) Prohibiting fingerprinting as a requirement for households to participate in SNAP.
  
  5.) Creating a grant program, called the "Beyond the Soup Kitchen Pilot Program," to provide funding to community-based anti-hunger groups. These grants would support programs aimed at reducing hunger, increasing the use of nutrition assistance, and bolstering food security.
  
  And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.