Bread for the World:
Legislative Update
Our
Faithful Opposition to Slashing Life-saving
Programs
2017
is shaping up to be one of the most
challenging ever for our work to end
hunger and poverty by 2030. Read more.
2017
Offering of Letters Officially
Launches
Bread
for the World's 2017 Offering of Letters:
Doing Our Part to End Hunger has
officially launched. Materials are now
available in both English and Spanish on
our website. Read more.
Trump
Budget Targets Poor and Hungry People
Bread for the World is
alarmed by the release of the Trump
administration’s “skinny” budget for
fiscal year 2018, which targets
international and domestic programs that
serve poor and hungry people. If passed,
this budget would make it nearly
impossible to end hunger and extreme
poverty.
“The unprecedented spending cuts
President Trump is proposing to the
State Department and other international
programs would roll back the tremendous
progress we have made against hunger and
poverty,” said Rev. David Beckmann,
president of Bread for the World. “This
budget could not be more shortsighted.
Less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget
goes to foreign aid. Trump is proposing
these cuts as 20 million people stand on
the verge of or are in the midst of
famine in Africa.”
President Trump’s budget
proposes a 31 percent cut to the State
Department and USAID, which fund many of
the United States’ foreign aid and
development assistance programs. It
would also eliminate the McGovern–Dole
International Food for Education and
Child Nutrition Program, which supports
nutrition and education in poor
countries, and the Africa Development
Fund. In 2015, 2.9 million children
benefited from the McGovern-Dole
program.
“It is clear from this
budget that the administration plans to
restructure the State Department and
USAID, moving away from those who need
assistance the most,” Beckmann added.
The proposed budget also
includes significant cuts to programs
that serve poor and hungry Americans.
This includes the 21st Century Community
Learning Centers program, which supports
before- and after-school and summer
programs for at-risk youth. Because the
budget lacks many specifics, we do not
yet know the full impact of the cuts.
“A significant percentage
of Trump’s domestic spending cuts come
from programs that are vital to
low-income families,” Beckmann said.
“President Trump has repeatedly said he
would look out for the ‘forgotten men
and women’ in our country. But with this
budget, he’s the one who seems to have
forgotten about them.”
Bread for the World’s 2017
Offering of Letters: Doing Our Part to
End Hunger asks Congress to pass a
budget that puts us on track to end
hunger by 2030.
AHCA
Will Increase Hunger, Poverty
Bread for
the World is concerned that 24 million
people, including 14 million on
Medicaid, would lose health insurance
coverage under the House Republican’s
replacement of the Affordable Care Act
(ACA). The replacement
would increase hunger and poverty
in the United States.
“The
proposed American Health Care Act
would have a devastating impact on
poor and elderly people, driving many
deeper into hunger and poverty,” said
Eric Mitchell, director of government
relations at Bread for the World.
“Fourteen million of the poorest
Americans would lose their Medicaid
coverage. Oftentimes, people without
health insurance must choose between
putting food on the table and
receiving medical care.”
The
American Health Care Act (AHCA) would
cut Medicaid funding by $880 billion
over 10 years, according to an
analysis by the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO). The AHCA would cap
Medicaid funding to the states and
eliminate the ACA Medicaid expansion.
States would receive less money to
cover children, the poor, the elderly,
and the disabled, resulting in the
rationing of health care.
Approximately 68 million Americans
receive health insurance through the
Medicaid program.
The AHCA
would also cut subsidies that have
made it possible for millions of
families to buy health insurance,
dramatically raising costs for the
poor and elderly. Before the ACA, 1 in
3 people with chronic medical
conditions had to choose between
paying for medical treatment and
purchasing food for their family.
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More Resources: Activist
Tool Kit
DOWNLOADS
The
Activist Tool Kit is intended for new and
current Bread grassroots hunger activists.
It provides a set of how-to sheets for
carrying out advocacy and fact sheets on the
current issues Bread for the World is
working on.
It's
ideal as a starter toolkit for new Bread
activists or as a set of updates for current
activists. Form your own toolkit by
printing out some or all of the sheets in
the kit.
How-tos:
Issues-related pieces:
Biblical resources:
