Senate Releases Budget with No Additional Support for Anti-Hunger Programs
The next step of the budget process has come faster than we anticipated. The Washington State Senate released their budget proposal today. Unfortunately, the news is not good: none of our requests were included.
The next step of the budget process has come faster than we anticipated. The Washington State House released their budget last week, and the Washington State Senate released their budget proposal today. Unfortunately, the news is not good: none of our requests were included.
The Senate’s budget did not result in cuts to 2013 levels of funding, but they did not include the modest increases that were gained for food bank funding in 2014, and does not include funding for Breakfast After the Bell. The Senate also did not include any new revenue, one of the key issues Food Lifeline has been advocating for along with many other safety net providers. Without additional revenue, the clients our agencies serve will continue to face one of the highest tax burdens in the state and revenues coming into the state will continue to fall below those expected.
To learn more about why the anti-hunger programs we’re fighting for are so important, check out our past blog entries from earlier in the session about EFAP and Breakfast After the Bell, as well as State Food Assistance and Farmers Market Nutrition Program.