Social War on Poor People Continues

Between December 1st and March 31st 36,000 people in Connecticut will lose SNAP benefits!

Unrealistic work requirements are being imposed on new groups who often cannot work. This includes homeless people and veterans, parents with children older than 14 years old (before it was children older than 18 years old), and those younger than 64 (before it was those under 55) [1]. These groups must now “document 20 hours of work per week, participate in a narrow set of work activities or prove they qualify for another exemption”. The federal legislation also cuts off access to SNAP entirely for immigrants with documentation, as those who are undocumented didn’t qualify to begin with. This includes refugees, asylum-seekers, and victims of human trafficking or domestic violence who will remain permanently ineligible, even after obtaining green cards [1]. This new bill is just a continuation of the federal government’s defunding of social programs that millions rely on, part of the continued war on poor people in order to keep capitalism running. As pointed out by one legislator, “The cuts to H.R. 1, if unchanged, by 2028 are billions of dollars, and the state does not have the ability to cover that. No state will.” This shows how politicians are unable to stop this crisis, we must stop it.

This all comes after earlier in November, when 10% of the CT population went hungry as they waited in uncertainty about when they would be able to buy food next due to the government shutdown. People had to decide between adequate nutrition and paying for other necessities like medications. Now with this federal bill on the way, DSS also predicts that 50,000 households would see their SNAP benefits decrease by $100 each month [3].

It’s Not Just Trump

Between the federal and state level, the money to meet people’s needs is there. Yet the federal government shows no sign of slowing the rate at which it is cutting social programs that people rely on like SNAP. Meanwhile in CT, there is a $2 billion surplus [4] and a $500 million “emergency fund” available specifically to help backfill federal cuts to human services [1]. It shouldn’t be a question that 36,000 people losing access to SNAP and having to choose between basic nutrition and other necessities is an emergency. But Governor Lamont has sole discretion to propose how those funds get used and has not announced any intent of using it to make sure those 36,000 people continue to have access to SNAP. [1][4]

Governor Lamont touts himself as “attacking the affordability issues” but the ones continually under attack are poor people. When the costs for housing, energy, heating, and transportation are higher than ever before and still rising, scaling back an already inadequate program like SNAP is a blatant attack on the most vulnerable people in our society.

What will it take to end the social war on poor people?

The situation continues to become increasingly dire for poor people and these attacks go unchallenged beyond empty words by nonprofits and politicians alike.

We must come together by taking bold collective action to not only protect SNAP and other social services, but to demand their expansion so that people’s needs are actually met!

Take Action with us on December 22nd!

We will be having a protest in front of the state’s DSS office on 55 Farmington Ave in Hartford. People directly impacted need to channel our righteous rage and anguish at those responsible for people’s suffering so that those in power will have no choice but to be confronted with our fury.

Time To be Announced