Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank says ‘big beautiful bill’ misses the mark
As a legislative package moving through Congress is set to change the operation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, the organization that runs the Butler County Food Bank says lawmakers missed the mark.
Last week, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank published a release speaking out against cuts to either program, saying the proposed cuts in the package would reflect “the largest rollback of food assistance in our nation’s history.”
“Grocery prices are already out of reach for too many of our neighbors facing hunger,” food bank president and CEO Lisa Scales said in the release. “With the sustained high cost of food and health care, this is not the time to scale back essential programs that help families stay afloat. Families, seniors, veterans and children in our community work hard every day to build better lives — but they need a strong foundation to succeed. Access to food and health care is that foundation.”
According to Feeding America’s most recent data, representing 2023, 22,400 Butler County residents, 11.4% of the population, are food insecure. Across the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s service area, 13% of the general population and 18.3% of children are food insecure.
Colleen Young, the director of government affairs for Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, discussed why the organization opposes the changes.
“We have found that the work requirements don’t actually make it easier to get back to work,” she said. “We would rather see ways to modernize the program and helping to find new ways to get work.”
Young explained that the package would make cuts to SUN Bucks, or Summer EBT, and The Emergency Food Assistance Program. She said the package would also cut off 30,000 refugees and lawfully present immigrants in Pennsylvania from benefits.
The cuts, alongside a previous cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in March, will mean less food available to the bank and higher demand for food assistance than ever before, Young said.
“When people lost their (SNAP) benefits in 2023, we saw a big uptick in people using our services,” she explained. “We're already seeing, prior to the bill passing, the highest numbers we’ve seen in the history of our organization.”
The bill also includes a temporary increase of $500 to the child tax credit, which would raise it to $2,500 for 2025 through 2028. However, Young criticized the method as the lowest income families that fall underneath the filing threshold would not be eligible for the credit’s full amount.
“It’s a missed opportunity,” she said. “One of the top expenses made on the child tax credit is food.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
