Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined a spotlight forum titled “Hunger by Design ­— The GOP’s Assault on SNAP” to question witnesses and expose President Trump and Republicans’ cruel budget proposal that would slash $300 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits while giving tax cuts to billionaires. As Trump’s tariffs raise food costs for American families, the cuts to SNAP would threaten a vital lifeline for over 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans.

Senator Padilla warned against the devastating SNAP cuts to pay for Republicans’ billionaire-first agenda.

• “We’re here today because in order to make life easier for billionaires — apparently that’s an agenda item — Congressional Republicans are pushing a budget bill that would literally harm young children, would harm single mothers, would harm Americans with disabilities, would harm countless seniors, some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. And Republicans would have you believe that SNAP benefits are some sort of luxury the way they talk about it. Nobody aspires to live on food stamps. What food stamps are is a lifeline for millions of Americans.”

• “It’s outright cruelty, literally taking from the poor to give to the rich. No one in our country should go hungry because billionaires need another tax break. That’s the Republican agenda. So today we’re here to expose these devastating cuts — literally the largest in history — for what they really are: tax breaks for billionaires paid for by the most vulnerable in our society.”

Padilla highlighted that the Republican budget reconciliation bill targets immigrants legally residing in the United States. He also underscored that Californians who are undocumented pay $8.5 billion dollars a year in taxes, yet are generally excluded from public programs like SNAP, the child tax credit, and Medicaid that their tax dollars pay for. He heard from Barbara C. Guinn, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, about the devastating impacts of withholding food assistance for lawfully present immigrants who depend on SNAP.

• PADILLA: “One of the most concerning elements of the bill is how it targets immigrant communities. There’s immigrants in every state in the nation. It targets them through deliberate exclusions of tax-paying noncitizens or their families from receiving child tax credit, Medicaid, and SNAP. … Commissioner Guinn, can you share how the bill would take food assistance away from lawfully present immigrants who have long been eligible for SNAP, and what the consequences would be for immigrant communities at large?”

• GUINN: “… The SNAP program, first, already has some pretty stringent limitations on the extent to which noncitizens can receive benefits. So the fact that this bill goes even farther in reducing access for individuals who are legally, lawfully present in our country is of great concern. In New York State, we estimate that as a result of the provisions in the House bill to further prevent legal noncitizens from accessing food benefits would impact about 70,000 individuals. … SNAP is typically temporary. It is often received by individuals who are trying really hard to work, putting a couple of jobs together. That’s no different for these immigrants who are legally present in our country, and we believe that they should continue to receive SNAP benefits, and actually would prefer to move in a different direction, to expand access for additional legally [present] noncitizens.”

Padilla also questioned Northwestern University Professor Dr. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach on the economic importance of preserving SNAP benefits. Dr. Schanzenbach emphasized that SNAP is especially important during economic downturns and after natural disasters, citing the critical safety net provided by expanding nutrition assistance during the Great Recession. SNAP supports roughly 390,000 jobs and $20 billion in wages every year.

• PADILLA: “Dr. Schanzenbach, you’ve talked about how SNAP doesn’t just fight against hunger, it actually is a driver of local economies throughout the country, impacting farmers, food producers, grocery retailers, truck drivers, et cetera. Can you just expand on what those economic impacts would be?”

• SCHANZENBACH: “… SNAP, and because of the full federal funding of SNAP, can very quickly expand in economic downturns. That means that people can still go to the grocery store, and it means that the grocery store doesn’t have to lay off certain people, and it has often been the most effective stimulus money that we’ve spent. Like during the Great Recession, they topped up benefits by like 15 percent. The studies came back and found… something like $1.75 return for every dollar that you spent on those increased benefits. SNAP is a very effective tool. It’s also particularly effective when, when there are natural disasters, like the fires in California. You know, we saw a little bit about the spillover effects on other people, right? Because we live in a society where our economic well-being is interconnected, and if we pull the rug out from one sector that’s going to have ripple effects.”

• PADILLA: “Appreciate you mentioning that it’s not just economic downturns, but with the increasing frequency and scale of natural disasters, the role and impact of SNAP there as well.”

Video of Senator Padilla’s remarks and questioning is available here.

Last month, Senator Padilla issued a statement slamming House Republicans’ billionaire-first budget reconciliation bill that will gut critical programs, including SNAP, and devastate families in California and across the country. Padilla previously spoke on the Senate floor against the Republican budget resolution, and voted against advancing it in the Senate in both February and April.

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