WILKES-BARRE— Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding joined leadership from Feeding Pennsylvania and the Central PA Food Bank this week to discuss the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The discussions come amid federal proposals that would take food assistance away from at least 140,000 Pennsylvanians and significantly alter the program, costing the state over $1 billion more annually and jeopardizing the program’s sustainability.
Governor Josh Shapiro has made clear that Pennsylvania cannot backfill these costs.
While SNAP helps nearly two million people in all communities of our Commonwealth purchase food for themselves and their families, SNAP participation rates are higher in rural areas than in urban or suburban areas.
Children and older adults represent more than half of Pennsylvanians helped by the SNAP program, and the program also allows lower-income working families and people with disabilities to keep food on their tables.
“SNAP helps people meet one of our most essential needs — allowing them to participate fully in work and school and live healthier,” said Arkoosh. “Should these proposals to change SNAP become law, vulnerable children, people with disabilities, older Pennsylvanians, and many others would see their access to food at risk and will further destabilize our agricultural economy and workforce during a tumultuous time.”
Every month, SNAP brings more than $365 million in cash benefits that can only be used on food — supporting local businesses, food producers, and Pennsylvania’s agricultural economy.
“Farmers receive nearly a quarter of every dollar Pennsylvania families spend on groceries, whether those dollars are from SNAP or any other source,” Redding said. “Most of Pennsylvania’s 48,800 farms are family-run. Losing SNAP dollars would hit Pennsylvania’s farm families as well as the families of the 12,000 people working in the grocery industry whose jobs are directly supported by monthly SNAP spending.”
Congress is currently in the midst of a budget reconciliation process that is seeking to make major cuts to federal programs — primarily Medicaid and SNAP.
The bill still needs to pass the U.S. Senate and be signed into law, so there are currently no changes to SNAP.
Rep. Meuser co-sponsors SAFE Cities Act
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, co-sponsored H.R. 3894 — the Stop Anarchists From Endangering (SAFE) Cities Act — this week. The legislation would ensure federal resources support jurisdictions that maintain law and order and take reasonable steps to protect their residents.
The SAFE Cities Act directs the Attorney General to identify “anarchist jurisdictions” — defined as state or local governments that prevent law enforcement from restoring order, reject federal assistance, defund or disempower their police, or otherwise fail to respond to widespread violence and property destruction.
Jurisdictions identified as such would face restrictions on certain categories of federal funding. The legislation codifies a Presidential Memorandum issued by President Trump during his first term to restrict federal funding from jurisdictions that tolerate lawlessness and undermine public safety.
Meuser said this legislation was introduced following recent incidents in Los Angeles where protests against federal immigration enforcement escalated into violent riots.
Demonstrators attacked federal law enforcement officers with rocks and Molotov cocktails, vandalized federal buildings, set vehicles ablaze and attempted to obstruct immigration enforcement efforts.
To restore order in Los Angeles, Meuser said President Trump authorized the deployment of National Guard troops. Despite these efforts to restore public safety, California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit to end the federalization of the National Guard.
“The SAFE Cities Act is a crucial piece of legislation that puts the safety and security of our communities first,” said Rep. Meuser. “We cannot allow public safety to take a backseat to political ideology. This bill ensures federal support goes to communities that protect their citizens, support their law enforcement, and take appropriate action in the face of violence. Our constituents — and the law enforcement officers who serve them — deserve no less.”
This bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
Bipartisan resolution condemns antisemitic violence
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, introduced S. Res. 288 this week. The bipartisan resolution condemns the horrific rise in violent antisemitic attacks across the country.
Citing the attempted murder in Boulder, Colorado, the arson attack on the Pennsylvania Governor’s residence, and the tragic murder of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capitol Jewish Museum, Sen. McCormick and Sen. Fetterman, along with 34 of their colleagues, remain unified in denouncing anti-Jewish hatred.
“Antisemitism has no place is America,” said McCormick. “Since October 7, 2023, the Jewish community has faced unprecedented and persistent antisemitic hate and violence. This hatred cannot stand. Living in Squirrel Hill, right around the corner from the site of the devastating Tree of Life Synagogue attack in 2018, really brings this issue home for me. Protecting my friends and neighbors, and all Jewish people across the country, must be a national priority.”
“Amid a despicable rise in antisemitism, we are starkly reminded that silence is complicity,” said Fetterman. “These appalling attacks on our Jewish communities are not isolated events. After 11 lives were stolen at the Tree of Life massacre in 2018, I’ve felt an even stronger moral obligation to confront antisemitism wherever it appears and stand united against hate.”
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) introduced the House of Representatives companion to this resolution.