Crickets from Lawler as Trump Administration Set to Further Restrict SNAP, Putting Benefits at Risk for Tens of Thousands of Hudson Valley Families
The Latest Eligibility Crackdown Comes as New Yorkers Are Still Struggling to Contend With New Reporting Requirements Enacted Earlier This Year
HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK — As families prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Trump Administration, with no visible objection from Representative Mike Lawler, is quietly moving to make groceries even less affordable for working families. The USDA has submitted a proposal to add harsh new eligibility restrictions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides critical food assistance to over 66,000 residents of New York’s 17th congressional district.
These new restrictions on who is eligible to receive benefits would force millions of Americans out of the program, many of whom are already struggling to comply with harsh new reporting requirements enacted earlier this year. At a time when 1 in 4 U.S. households are living paycheck-to-paycheck and grocery prices are on the rise due to tariffs, additional restrictions would force families across the Hudson Valley into an impossible situation. Rep. Lawler has already voted to cut SNAP benefits for Hudson Valley families and now stands quietly by as they draw new attacks from the Trump administration.
“Republicans seem to want to make putting food on the table an insurmountable task for regular Americans,” said Mary, a SNAP recipient from Peekskill. “First, they added harsh new reporting requirements that forced countless people like me out of the program. After a lot of work, I was finally able to have my eligibility status restored, and now they’re looking to add even more restrictions? The cost of groceries keeps going up, yet they do nothing but make it harder and harder for people like me to scrape by. If Congressman Lawler cares even the slightest bit about the vulnerable people in his district, he needs to stand up and speak out against this.”
Despite his claims to want to protect the program, Rep. Lawler has repeatedly supported efforts to undermine or restrict New Yorkers’ access to SNAP benefits:
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
