Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
SNAP cuts It is amazing (and not in a good way) that our elected officials are discussing rescinding funding on the eve of 475,000 people in Pennsylvania losing food due to the lack of SNAP benefits. Childcare providers will be the primary way many children will eat. If childcare providers, many of whom are already struggling, must now work in an environment where the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is not available to them or the families they serve, the pain will be compounded. They will struggle to provide food to the kids in their care. The loss of SNAP benefits will also put more stress on parents, families, and childcare providers. We are already living in a period where parents are running on hamster wheels due to a lack of resources. The loss of SNAP benefits strips away everything parents cherish most. Meals are more than sustenance. Families bond over meals, share admiration for each other, hear updates on the day, and plan the future. Simply put, the family unit is disrupted when there is no food. It is essential that our leaders do everything they can to ensure parents can feed their children. Charles Coe,executive director and chief brand compliance officer, Incredible Kids Learning Center, Philadelphia . . . Over and over, the Trump administration has shown disregard and cruelty toward the American people. Donald Trump’s “Big Ugly Bill” cut off millions of people from critical healthcare and slashed safety net programs that keep our communities afloat. Instead, the bill handed $2.8 trillion in tax breaks to the ultrarich. Why do rich people need more money? American billionaires have reached a record-breaking level of $8 trillion collectively, with a jump of $1.2 trillion since the start of the president’s second term. In the meantime, regular people are struggling to pay bills and afford food and medicines. Now, we have just reached a new low. Trump is attacking the SNAP program that helps people who face food insecurity, most of them children. There is a safety fund set aside to run this program even during a government shutdown, but Trump is refusing to use it. He obviously does not care if millions of Americans go hungry, once more showing a lack of concern toward his constituents. What we are seeing is Trump and his rich donors, literally, taking food out of the mouths of children. Chiara Nappi,Princeton A few short months ago, I walked over 201,000 steps from Philadelphia to Harrisburg to bring attention to the defunding of SEPTA and Pennsylvania’s Republican budget impasse. Over the course of 82 hours, dozens of friends and strangers joined me in highlighting the importance of this public service. Still, budget negotiations have stalled, forcing SEPTA to rely on its emergency funds, causing massive delays, cancellations, and dysfunction. Now, the federal shutdown has come for food assistance. Today, we are on the edge of another crisis-level event: Come Nov. 1, we will see the implementation of work requirements for SNAP benefits and the inability to issue them because of the government shutdown. This intersection has the most painful and devastating repercussions of my lifetime. Philadelphia is a city in which 13.6% of residents struggle with food insecurity. Pennsylvania has over two million, or 15.3%, of the total population receiving SNAP benefits. One of the first pieces of legislation I sponsored in the General Assembly was to study poverty so we could eradicate it. Instead, we have chosen to punish it. In 2024, I sponsored legislation to increase Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits according to inflation. Since then, conditions have become only more dire for working families, seniors, and the disabled. These pieces of legislation are not radical, they are not a handout, nor are they wasteful. As a kid, I relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to eat. My constituents rely on SNAP. So do our friends in rural communities, and college kids right in Philadelphia, which is why State Rep. Jennifer O’Mara and I established the Hunger-Free Campus Grant, supporting college food pantries. On Nov. 1, we see the effects of a long-running campaign to kick someone on the ground rather than offer a hand up. I can tell you that that’s not how my parents raised me. Our government should be working for working families, not penalizing them. But even in the federal shutdown, these cuts don’t need to happen. The Trump administration could tap funds right now to keep these benefits flowing and people fed. We shouldn’t be cutting food assistance; we should be expanding SNAP so no one goes hungry, ensuring everyone has access to these benefits, and elevating our support workers at the county level. I owe everything to the availability of benefits like SNAP. This is a fight I will never give up. Malcolm Kenyatta,Pennsylvania House of Representatives The writer, a Democrat, represents House District 181 in North Philadelphia. Americans first? The average American yearly salary in 2025 is estimated to be $67,000. The Trump administration is proposing to send $40 billion in financial aid to Argentina. Half this amount would be sufficient to pay the salaries of the approximately 300,000 federal workers laid off by the Department of Government Efficiency. It appears the Trump administration is placing a higher priority on providing financial assistance to Argentina than on keeping Americans employed. MAGA and the GOP need to rethink their “America First” plan to include Americans first. In addition, significant costs will be incurred from unneeded activities, such as the refurbishment of a personal jet gifted by Qatar, and the loss of revenues due to tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. These lost federal dollars could be better used to fund many of the vital programs already cut by this administration. Fred Shapiro,Margate Trump’s shutdown Don’t even suggest that this federal shutdown belongs to anyone other than President Donald Trump. Vice President JD Vance, Sen. John Thune, and Speaker Mike Johnson play the “we’re hostages” card daily — but facts matter. A little background. Last spring, the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill” called for actions that would double healthcare premiums for as many as 20 million low-income Americans — and deprive another four million of any insurance at all. Democrats exploded. They were not going to support this immoral travesty being applied to our economically less fortunate citizens. Still, the president demanded passage by July 4. Remember? Thune and Johnson hounded reluctant Republicans and narrowly passed it (by one vote). From the very beginning, Trump, Thune, and Johnson knew in July that the law required bipartisan agreement by Oct. 1. Yet, they would never agree to meet the Democrats. In fact, just one week before the shutdown, President Trump canceled a scheduled meeting with Democratic leaders, declaring, “We have nothing to discuss.” He was going to have his way. So here we are — and it has been so unnecessary. Congress could fix this today: Simply amend the bill to continue healthcare coverage for millions as it is. A few sentences could do it; it might take an hour. Instead, weeks later, nothing has changed — and now another 45 million Americans have found themselves on the verge of losing their supplemental food assistance. Our economy is unraveling. The Republican Party does control the nation today. Call your Republican senators and representatives. Tell them to let our less fortunate neighbors have their basic health insurance as we do. Robert E. Griffith,Naples, Fla.
