November 17, 2023

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Editor's Note: In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, FRAC will not be sending the Weekly Program Update next week.

Advocating for SNAP

USDA Stolen EBT Benefits Replacement Dashboard
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created a resource to review state-reported data on the replacement of stolen EBT benefits with federal funds. As of now, 10 states are reporting. There is a rich amount of data to review, including how many stolen benefit claims have been filed, how many have been approved/denied, percent of stolen benefits replaced, along with some useful charts. The dashboard is updated quarterly. The dashboard can be found here.  

Comments Needed On SNAP Customer Service
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (USDA-FNS) has requested comments to explore how state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) agencies are measuring the quality of customer service for SNAP applicants and participants. These comments will inform case studies in up to nine states to understand strategies for defining, measuring, and improving customer service in SNAP. Comments are due November 30. More information can be found here.  

Child Nutrition Programs

Medicaid Direct Certification: RFP Open
Last week, USDA-FNS released a streamlined Request for Applications to Participate in Demonstration Projects to Evaluate Direct Certification with Medicaid. This would allow the use of Medicaid data files to identify children eligible to receive meals through the  National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program at free or reduced price without an application. Eleven states and the District of Columbia currently do not participate and are encouraged to apply: Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. Learn more here.

Legislative Update

Congress Passes (Another) Continuing Resolution; Final Action on Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Looms Ahead in the New Year
This week, the Senate (87–11) and House (336–95) passed a continuing resolution (CR), H.R. 6363, that averted a government shutdown – the President signed it yesterday. Included in the relatively “clean” CR was an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill through September 30, 2024. The Senate defeated an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), 32–65, which would have cut by 15 percent all programs except the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and military construction. It would have rescinded $30 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.   

The spending bill employs a “laddered” approach authored by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), with a two-tiered deadline structure for funding bills — the Agriculture Department’s funding bill falls under the shorter deadline of January 19 (the second deadline for the military and some of the government’s largest domestic programs is February 2). 

The bill fails to include any additional funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (or the Child Tax Credit and child care). Congress continued to include authority for states to spend their current federal WIC dollars faster to allow for increased participation in fiscal year (FY) 2024 without any interruption of benefits and services. While the new spending bill does extend this flexibility, it also creates greater pressure on Congress to fully fund the program in the final FY 2024 spending bill.  

The momentum to address the WIC funding crisis was aided by House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Andy Harris (R-MD), who said, “If states need more [WIC] money, they should ask [USDA] for funding not start wait lists.” Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) said, “It is time to roll up our sleeves and address … critical priorities … failing to fully fund WIC for the first time is not an acceptable outcome …”. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa Delauro (D-CT) issued a statement after the House bill passed, urging productive talks to start immediately to address America’s needs. 

Take Action to Fully Fund WIC in FY 2024 Appropriations 

Use the FRAC Action Network to send a message directly to your Member of Congress to fully fund WIC in FY 2024 to stave off possible interruptions in benefits and services in the program. Reference this Action Alert. 

Farm Bill Extension
Lawmakers now have more time to broker a full five-year Farm Bill without a year-end cliff for some 20 “orphan” USDA programs that would otherwise lose funding on January 1. 

According to reporting by Jerry Hagstrom, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said that farm leaders should express “a sense of urgency” about passing a new Farm Bill. Stabenow said that in 2013, when Farm Bill negotiations were dragging on and on, “there was a sense of urgency in the agriculture community,” but that she does not get that sense of urgency now. Stabenow reiterated that it is vital that Congress pass a new Farm Bill in 2024; that it “would be ideal” to pass a new Farm Bill “in the spring, before summer.” 

Check out Food Research & Action Center’s Road to the Farm Bill page for more on Farm Bill basics, priority legislation, current state-of-play, and action items for advocates.