Contact Senator Levin TODAY to Cosponsor the Gillibrand Amendment to Restore SNAP Cuts
Now that the Senate Agriculture Committee has passed its farm bill, action moves to the Senate floor where all senators will have an opportunity to weigh in. The bill will be on the floor this week (the week of May 20), and we need your help TODAY building cosponsors for the Gillibrand amendment to restore SNAP cuts.
Food banks and pantries can help ensure a strong nutrition title by urging their senator to cosponsor, especially if your senator was one of the 33 senators who signed Gillibrand’s letter in support of full SNAP funding. While the amendment is likely to fail, a strong, bipartisan vote for the amendment will help protect SNAP from deeper cuts in conference with the House bill, which cuts SNAP by $21 billion.
Below is a draft email to send to Senate offices. You can personalize the email more so to suit your needs.
To encourage Senator Levin to cosponsor the amendment, contact Harold Chase at [email protected] or 202-224-6221.
****Calls are helpful even after the deadline because we need senators to vote for the amendment even if they did not cosponsor the bill!*****
If you have questions, please contact Sophie Milam Director of Nutrition Assistance and Budget Policy ([email protected]) or Stephanie Cohen ([email protected]).
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Draft Email to Senate Staff
Dear Mr. Chase,
Yad Ezra, is deeply concerned about the $4.1 billion in SNAP cuts included in the farm bill that passed out of committee last week. Yad Ezra, meaning “helping hand,” is a food pantry that provides for hungry Jewish families needing assistance with putting food on their tables. In addition to the food pantry, clients are offered referral services to area social service agencies. Yad Ezra is an independent organization that relies solely on fundraising activities, food drives, individual gifts, and grants to meet the budgetary demands. Volunteers also assist Oakland County seniors to register to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), formerly known as food stamps. Currently, Yad Ezra provides nutritious food for more than 1,500 families every month. I understand that the bill may go to the floor as early as this week.
Senator Gillibrand will offer an amendment to restore the SNAP cut included in the bill, and we are counting on Senator Levin for support. We deeply appreciate you signing onto the Gillibrand letter calling for full funding for SNAP, and I am hopeful that the senator will cosponsor the amendment.
The deadline to cosponsor is Monday, May 20 COB . The contact is Kathryn Tanner:[email protected].
Thank you for taking time to consider our request.
Sincerely,
Yad Ezra