Crockett Highlights Need for Additional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Funding and Reaffirms Support for Struggling Texas Working Families

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) releases the following statement amid expiring SNAP benefits, harming millions of Americans:

“Nearly 4 million Texans are starting their March differently than they did February. An extra boost of $95 per month, gone.

“I continue to echo our Secretary of Health and Human Services’ wise words: ‘food is medicine.’ Secretary Becerra could not be more right! Without food, our people cannot get healthy and stay healthy. Without SNAP, we will see moms, dads, and children go to bed hungry, will no longer be able to focus in school nor perform well at their jobs. I look forward to working closely with Secretary Vilsack of the Department of Agriculture, as his agency works to offset these sudden negative effects of $3 billion in monthly food stamp benefits vanishing from the pockets of hardworking Americans.”

“In my district, both the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank will be critical to navigating this Spring and Summer. Food banks across the nation are already expecting a surge, and we have got to support their incredible work that quite literally keeps our neighbors moving. SNAP participants in Texas received $4.77 billion in benefits in 2019, $6.3 billion in 2020, $8.75 billion in 2021, and $9.88 billion in 2022. Now, nearly 650,000 individuals in our Dallas-Fort Worth counties have lost SNAP funds, more than half of them children. In just a couple of months, as students leave school for Summer Break, demand for food access will only further climb. As the Tarrant Area Food Bank works to step into the future as a regional hub, I’m dedicating myself as a steadfast partner in making that goal a reality.”
 
“SNAP emergency benefits have expired, but the determination to serve our people never will. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, alongside three other Texans, I’ll work day in and day out to reauthorize and expand SNAP, and center everyday Americans at the drawing table of the 2023 Farm Bill.”

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Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett represents portions of Dallas and Tarrant Counties, with the cities of Dallas, Grand Prairie, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Lancaster, Duncanville, Glenn Heights, Hutchins, Wilmer, Arlington, Ovilla, and Seagoville.