article

Policy & Advocacy Update for Agency Partners

By Food Lifeline Staff | Thursday February 27, 2025

We Are Here for You

Your Food Lifeline advocacy team is Aaron Czyzewski (director of Advocacy & Public Policy), Alicya Pearson (Community Action Organizer), and Rashell Lisowski (Community Organizer). Our goal is to provide agency partners with ongoing guidance, support, and technical assistance for any community organizing, lobbying, public policy, or government relations needs that you may have. Please see Food Lifeline’s website for general information. For one-on-one help, reach out to anyone on our team.

State Legislative Session Update – Bracing for Cuts

Food Lifeline’s 2025 State Advocacy Agenda is important to dealing with the continued increase in food insecurity in Washington – confirmed yet again by a recent UW/WSU study of food insecurity in Washington. Yet, due to state budget shortfalls, all of our top priorities this year, across a spectrum of need, are in jeopardy. As such, we are preparing to be active with advocacy to support new progressive revenue proposals and invite our agency partners to join us.

Washington has the second most regressive tax code in the country – meaning the wealthy contribute less than their share to state & local taxes as do the working poor. New progressive revenue is needed to address this economic inequity, avoid the harshest of budget cuts, and also to invest in communities when it’s needed most.

Without it, funding will not be available to fully fund school meals, senior meal programs, state nutrition assistance funding & grants for emergency food providers, and maintaining current funding levels for Fruit & Vegetable Incentive Programs: SNAP Match & Produce Prescriptions, and for SUN Bucks/Summer EBT to Feed Kids in the Summer.

We are also working on policy and investments that will further improve support for hunger relief organization, such as HB 1987 Food Security Strategy, by Rep. Kristine Reeves, which calls for a statewide strategy to end hunger, reduce environmental health disparities, and increase agricultural sustainability and resilience.

U.S. Congress and the Trump Administration

Recent developments fueled by the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress have alarmed us with the pace, scale, and scope of changes proposed or in motion. Like many, we are assessing everything in real time and will be working, like always, to protect SNAP, federal emergency food safety net programs, and related supports for people with low income and disadvantaged communities, including immigrant and immigrant communities. Next steps for Congress are Budget Reconciliation, Appropriations bills by March 14 to avoid a government shutdown, and consideration of the farm bill.

Washington Commodity Donation Program (New)

Last session, Food Lifeline helped create the Washington Commodity Donation Program at WSDA to scale up donations of local produce. In just the first few weeks (2/4 thru 2/20) of implementation, Feeding the Northwest (statewide produce co-op) sourced and distributed 333,446 lbs. of produce (Pears, Onions, Potatoes, and Apples) for redistribution to local food banks and pantries. For this amount, five Ag donors received a combined total $31,549 to reimburse for harvesting and transportation costs associated with their donation.

To complete their grant, Feeding the Northwest plans on distributing between 40 to 50 full-sized truckloads per month until June 30. This is unsold WA grown food that would otherwise likely go to waste. So far, the redistribution partners receiving donated produce include:

Feeding the Northwest received the largest ($1.8M) of three awards granted by WSDA. As they continue, they will source more produce and send it to more partners across the state. Northwest Harvest ($1M) and EastWest Food Rescue ($156K) also received grant awards.