Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” an “ugly” bill.
The budget proposal has been passed by the House of Representatives, and Schumer said the bill the Senate is now considering has devastating consequences for central and northern New York.
One of the areas that is being cut is anti-hunger programs.
Outside of the Catholic Charities of Oswego County food pantry in Fulton Tuesday, Tim Bryant explained how SNAP benefits kept him going when he was in graduate school and experienced a traumatic brain injury.
"SNAP gave me something incredibly basic, but incredibly powerful: the ability to eat, to nourish myself, and to focus on healing,” he said.
Tonia Ferro also spoke about what the program means to her.
"To my son and I, it's everything,” she said. “It's the difference between eating and starving."
Schumer said those are just two examples of what SNAP, or the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, means to central and northern New York. But now, he said it’s in jeopardy, with the current federal budget bill eliminating $300 billion in funding.
"This is not a partisan issue,” Schumer said. “This is not a political issue. It's a moral issue."
Karen Belcher, the executive director of the Food Bank of Central New York, said in our area, one in five children is already dealing with food insecurity. And Oswego County has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the state.
"SNAP cuts will be devastating for our neighbors, especially children and older adults,” Belcher said. “Food is not a privilege. It is a basic human right."
Schumer said he’s been talking to his republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate, and he’s hopeful four of them will join democrats and refuse to pass the budget bill if SNAP cuts remain.
“I ask my Republican colleagues: What is it?” Schumer said. “You say it’s waste, fraud, and abuse? Which category does a hungry 7-year-old fall under? Is feeding that hungry 7-year-old waste? Is feeding that hungry 7-year-old fraud? Is feeding that hungry 7-year-old abuse? Give me a break.”
