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Letter to members of the House Committee on Appropriations about funding for nutrition programs

May 8, 2006

Members of the Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative:

I am writing on behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to urge you to preserve and strengthen the vital nutrition programs funded under the Agriculture Subcommittee's jurisdiction. These programs constitute an important safety net for millions of working and struggling families, and provide state and local governments with critically important funding. Specifically, we urge you to: 

• Appropriate $5.388 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) in order to serve 8.2 million participants. The Subcommittee funded WIC at $5.244 billion, which is $40 million over FY 2006 levels and $44 million over the Bush Administration's request but is less than the $5.388 billion AFSCME and anti-hunger advocates project is needed to support an anticipated WIC monthly caseload of 8.2 million participants. We urge the Appropriations Committee to increase the funding level to this amount to avoid participant cuts. AFSCME also urges this Committee to maintain the $125 million WIC contingency fund.
• Provide Additional Support for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). AFSCME is pleased that the Subcommittee rejected the Administration's proposal to eliminate funding for CSFP and provided $118.3 million for the program. We urge the Committee to provide more funding to ensure that all states approved for CSFP are able to serve eligible low-income seniors and children.
• Expand the Simplified Summer Food Program ("Lugar Pilots"). The Subcommittee failed to expand the Simplified Summer Food Program nationwide. We recommend that the full Committee provide additional funding so that the highly-successful Lugar Pilots can be replicated to help ensure that low-income children across the country have access to nutritious meals during the summer months.

We urge your serious consideration of our funding requests for these vital programs and thank you for your continued leadership.

Sincerely,

Charles M. Loveless
Director of Legislation

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