Rep. Munira: Ohio Republicans Failed to Act to Help Millions of Ohioans About to Lose SNAP Benefits

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus) Wednesday condemned Ohio Republicans in the state legislature for failing to act on any measures that could have preserved Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for 1.4M Ohioans. Instead, in two days, more than half million children, more than 250,000 seniors, and an estimated 45,000 veterans are at risk of going hungry when the federal government defaults on its November deposit to fully fund SNAP benefit cards due to President Trump and Congressional Republicans' refusal to end the federal government shutdown.

“It is with a heavy heart that I share this announcement. Across the country, hundreds of millions of Americans, many of them our own neighbors, are set to lose access to food assistance next week. These are families, children, babies, and seniors. This comes during the month of Thanksgiving, when too many will struggle to feed their kids at home, let alone celebrate with a meal around the table,” said Rep. Munira. “Food is a human right. It is our collective responsibility as a government and as a society to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to meet people’s basic needs, not cosmetic projects. Our office will continue to share available resources, work closely with local food banks, and assist constituents to the best of our ability during this difficult time.”

Ohio Republicans Wednesday refused to take up several possible solutions introduced by House Democrats to help mitigate the impending humanitarian and financial crisis facing Ohio including: 

House Bill 502: A bill introduced by State Rep. Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus) that would have continued to fund SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) contingent upon a lapse in federal funding. The bill was never referred to a committee, never given a public hearing and never considered for a full vote in the House of Representatives.

An amendment drafted and introduced Wednesday but not taken up would have:

• Creates a new fund under the Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services (JFS) to provide emergency funds to Ohio food banks until the federal government shutdown ends or SNAP recipients begin to receive benefits again;
• Appropriates up to $100M as needed by food banks to meet increased need during shutdown either from Controlling Board emergency purposes fund or rainy day fund;
• Requires JFS to work with Ohio Association of Food Banks (OAFB) to determine timeframe for distributing funds, as needed; and
• Requires OAFB to coordinate and work with Meals on Wheels and other similar non profit food delivery organizations to distribute food to the disabled, seniors, and others who may lack transportation. 

Come Saturday, November 1st, families will be forced to choose between buying food or medicine or keeping the heat on because of Ohio Republicans’ failure to respond to this urgent crisis.