RANKING MEMBER TAKANO LEADS MEMBER LETTER TO USDA ABOUT SUPPORTING VETERANS EXPERIENCING FOOD INSECURITY

Letter

Dear Mr. Secretary:

Thank you for your diligent efforts to protect veterans experiencing food insecurity during the recent debt ceiling negotiations. We also appreciate your work to familiarize us with the Fiscal Responsibility Act. You have clearly demonstrated the value you place in advocating for our nation's farmers, ranchers, and veterans. To that end, we are writing to you today as you begin to implement the Fiscal Responsibility Act, particularly as it relates to SNAP work requirements and the exemptions for veterans.

We thank you for releasing guidance that defines "veteran" for purposes of the SNAP exemption broadly. It is our hope that this ensures that the greatest number of veterans possible benefit from the exemption, a goal you clearly share. We also thank you for releasing guidance that minimizes the administrative burden on veterans to verify their status for purposes of the exemption. The priority for the Administration and Congress must continue to be ensuring that every hungry veteran and their family are connected with services and resources to address their needs.

We are interested in learning from the effects of the SNAP exemption for veterans to inform future action to ensure veterans have easy access to stable nutrition resources. We respectfully urge you to develop detailed and consistent instructions to states and counties on data collection and reporting expectations related to the new exemptions for veterans from SNAP's time limits.

We look forward to working with the Department to monitor implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and to ensure veterans experiencing hunger can easily access SNAP and other nutrition resources.

Source