If federal funding programs aren’t restored and if Congress approves SNAP cuts included in the reconciliation bill, officials with Feeding South Dakota say the effects will be felt in South Dakota.
“How do you make a decision to say, we have all these different programs... We have senior hunger programs, child hunger, family hunger programs, who do we cut? I mean, if I gave you that question, you would be like ‘I don’t want any of them to not have food.’ Right?" said CEO of Feeding South Dakota Lori Dykstra.
She's describing the predicament her organization is facing following a Trump Administration move to cut funding to the Commodity Credit Corporation. The CCC oversees The Emergency Food Assistance Program, a program Feeding SD uses to get commodity food.
Although Feeding South Dakota isn’t federally funded, Dykstra said about 25-33% of their food comes from the federal government.
“So, if they continue to make these cuts the way they’re doing, we will not be able to fill and bridge that gap,” Dykstra said.
When things are done through Executive Orders, she said it’s impossible to plan ahead because cuts happen in real time with no heads up.
Feeding South Dakota Board Chair Kim Tyler said just because the problems come fast, doesn’t mean the solutions do too.
“And that means that there will be pain. Sadly," Tyler said. "There will be folks of every age and every economic background or whatever that are really going to be hurt before we can make our adjustments and continue to do our education and solve for the pain."
As Congress looks at the reconciliation bill, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid funding are two areas many expect cuts to come from with President Trump asking for a balanced budget. One proposal is moving some of the costs associated with those programs to the state level. Dykstra said for South Dakota that doesn’t work.
“And we don’t have that in our budget. So, what’s going to happen?" Dykstra said. "They’re going to either have to tax the people, we don’t have state income tax may have to consider that to cover the program, or we have to cut benefits. So, either of those situations are not going to be good for South Dakota people."
But it’s not all doom and gloom, Dykstra said donors are stepping up to help Feeding South Dakota bridge the funding gaps, but those fixes are temporary.
Dykstra said if some projected cuts go through, they expect more people in food lines with less food to provide.
