Each legislative session, Oregon’s Joint Ways & Means Committee holds a statewide roadshow to hear from residents about their priorities. At the Salem stop April 16, supporters of the Food for All Oregonians bill are urging people to speak up. A coalition of over 180 organizations says bipartisan momentum is growing behind the bill, which would extend food benefits to all of the state’s kids, regardless of their immigration status.
Ali King, a member of the Our Children Oregon coalition, said policy experts, parents, and other supporters of the bill have a clear message.
“We’ve all seen firsthand how our worsening hunger crisis impacts our children and state and it’s unacceptable that one in six Oregon children don’t have enough to eat,” she declared.
King says Food for All Oregonians is one of the top priorities for her organization’s ‘Children’s Agenda,’ a package of legislation dedicated to improving the well-being of Oregon’s children, youth, and families. The bill is currently in the Ways and Means committee.
A previous version of Food for All Oregonians would have extended food benefits to older adults as well as children. Opponents take issue with providing food benefits to people who are undocumented. King says, though the bill is linked to immigration status, it is not only about immigration.
“We can’t allow Oregon’s innocent children to become the collateral damage of partisan politics. It’s really important that regardless of your views on immigration, we recognize that no one deserves to go hungry,” she continued.
Food for All Oregonians would establish a new program in the Department of Human Services to provide food benefits to children up to 6 years old who would otherwise qualify for SNAP but for their immigration status. The estimated cost for this biennium is about $7.5 million. Coalition members say they will continue to work until all Oregonians have access to the food benefits they need.
Isobel Charle, Oregon News Service
