President's FY2013 Budget Protects Nation's Safety Net

Washington, D.C. – February 13, 2012 –President Obama’s budget, released today, protects and proposes to strengthen the nation’s nutrition safety net for the many Americans who continue to struggle with hunger, lost jobs, and reduced wages. Chief among his proposals are: restoration of cuts to SNAP (food stamps) benefits made in the 2010 child nutrition bill and scheduled to take place in FY 2013; and the suspension for a fiscal year of time limits on benefits for certain unemployed, working-age, low-income adults without dependents.

“As the nation recovers from the recession, tens of millions still struggle with hunger. In 2010 alone, nearly one in four households with children said there were times they were unable afford enough food for their households,” said FRAC President Jim Weill. “The President’s budget makes important investments in our nation’s nutrition safety net, and FRAC is committed to working with the Administration and with Congress to ensure that the programs are protected and improved.”

In addition to the SNAP proposals, the budget also:

  • Provides funding to support an estimated Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) caseload of 9.1 million individuals.
  • Includes funding to cover an increase in the WIC fruit and vegetable vouchers for children from the current $6 to $8.
  • Supports continued implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
  • Addresses food deserts and the lack of healthy, affordable food in communities by providing financing to community development financial institutions, nonprofits, businesses, and public agencies with strategies to address this gap.
  • Extends permanently expansions of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit that were passed in the 2009 Recovery Act and continued as part of the bipartisan Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act, providing greater tax relief for low-income households.
  • Provides $3 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), an increase of $450 million from last year’s request to reflect the rising cost of heating oil.
  • Provides $2 million in funding for the Emerson/Leland Hunger Fellowships.

FRAC will have ongoing analysis of the President’s budget available on its website.