October 26, 2001
 

The Honorable Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Hatch:

    The Utah Reauthorization Project (UREAP) writes today to convey our strong support for the Nutrition Title of Senator Lugar's Farm Bill, S. 1571. The various important elements of this legislation highlight and address a number of the ways in which the Food Stamp Program can be improved so that it will adapt to current day needs and realities.

    S. 1571 will modernize and provide additional funding for the program in some vital ways that will enhance its ability to serve the important function of providing nutrition assistance to Americans in need of this help. Of paramount importance, the bill

• transforms the Food Stamp Program in necessary ways so that it can truly support working families,
• facilitates access by elderly people and people with disabilities who are in need of nutritional supplementation,
• restores eligibility to some working noncitizens.

• reduces the program's complexity and, thereby, improves access;
• allows states to make their Food Stamp programs more compatible with other assistance and work support programs;
• ensures that quality control measures meaningful state performance in fulfilling the purposes of the program, and eliminates penalties that operate to discourage states from focusing on good customer service and assisting working families;
• reduces the severity of time-limits on unemployed childless adults;
• commits the necessary resources--$10 billion over a ten-year period--to accomplish these important improvements;
• promises to assist households and immediately stimulate local economies at this time of slowdown and increasing constriction of the labor market.

    Senator Lugar's Farm Bill contains several of the reforms UREAP participants have outlined. We urge your support of this effort to improve the Food Stamp Program and enhance its function as the major vehicle to reduce hunger and supplement nutrition in our nation. People cannot work, children cannot learn and grow, and no one, especially our seniors and people with disabilities, should go hungry in a land of plenty such as ours.

Sincerely,
 
 

The Utah Reauthorization Project

Active Re-Entry, Price, (Southeastern Utah)
Box Elder Family Support Center, Brigham City, (Box Elder County)
Bringing Hope to Single Moms, Logan, (Cache and Box Elder Counties)
Community Action Services, Provo, (Utah, Wasatch, and Summit Counties)
Disabled Rights Action Coalition (DRAC), Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Family Support & Children's Justice Center, Price, (Carbon County)
International Rescue Committee, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
JEDI for Women, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Legislative Coalition for People with Disabilities, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Mental Health Association in Utah, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Options for Independence, Logan, (Northern Utah)
Peace & Justice Commission, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
People Helping People, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake County)
Salt Lake Community Action Program (SLCAP), Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)
Tri-County Independent Living Center, Ogden (Weber, Davis, and Morgan Counties)
United Way Executive Directors Association (UWEDA), SLC, (Salt Lake County)
Utah Children, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Utah Community Action Program Association (UCAPA), (statewide)
Utah Issues, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Utahns Against Hunger, Salt Lake City, (statewide)
Valley Mental Health, Salt Lake City, (Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)
Walsh & Weathers Research and Policy Studies, Fruitland
Your Community Connection, Ogden, (Weber County)

Enclosure