Holt, Housing and Food Assistance Advocates Blast Proposed Cuts

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Township) and leaders from The Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton and the Community FoodBank of New Jersey have condemned a bill they say will significantly reduce or eliminate aid to vulnerable New Jersey residents, including housing assistance and food stamps. 

The Republican budget reconciliation bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday and will now move to the U.S. Senate. 

“Make no mistake: these cuts would increase hardship in New Jersey and set back our economic recovery at a time when too many families continue to struggle," Holt said.

The plan would slash the food stamp program by $36 billion over 10 years, leading 2 million Americans to lose access and cutting benefits for 44 million more, according to Holt. One million New Jersey residents rely on food stamps to keep food on their tables.

“The Food Stamp program has long been a front line defense in the alleviation of hunger and poverty, said Diane Riley, director of advocacy for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which has seen a 46 percent rise in the number of people who need assistance since the recession began.

"Without its support, the increased demand on charities such as The Community FoodBank would be crippling," Riley said. 

Holt got a first-hand look at what food stamp recipients face when he joined hunger avocates to shop for a week's worth of food with the average Food Stamp benefit for $31.50 late last year.

“Trying to eat for seven days on that budget drove home, in a profound and troubling way, the fragility of America’s social safety net," Holt said.

The bill also would permanently eliminate the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program, which provided New Jersey residents $48.1 millionin 2012 alone, including support for child care, Meals on Wheels and child protective services. 

The Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton receives homlessness assistance from the SSBG program that helps about 35 families a year, Executive Director Carolyn Biondi said. Over the past decade, the organization has helped 350 families avoid homelessness with $130,000 in grant money.

"It is unfortunate that this important grant source may be cut, leaving our neighbors vulnerable to hunger and homelessness," Biondi said.  

Holt said the proposed cuts break Republicans’ promise in last year’s Budget Control Act, which set federal spending levels and deficit reduction through an equal combination of defense and non-defense spending cuts. This proposal violates that deal both by demanding deeper overall cuts and by cutting social services especially sharply in order to preserve runaway defense spending, Holt said.