Advocacy for Inclusion to SNAP aid
Por Paridad – via Metro.pr – Following a group of organizations that wrote letters to Congress in support of the inclusion of Puerto Rico in the aid program (SNAP), the alternate spokesman for the New Progressive Party (PNP) in the Senate, Carmelo Ríos also advocated for the full inclusion of Puerto Rico in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program under which the 50 states operate.
“SNAP is a program of direct aid to people most in need. With SNAP we will see a significant increase, over 12 percent more, in the money allocated for nutrition assistance. The benefits per family would increase a lot, which would help mitigate the effects of the pandemic. That is why we are supporting the initiative to include Puerto Rico in the SNAP program,” said Ríos.
House Resolution 4077 (Senate Resolution 2192)
House Resolution 4077 (Senate Resolution 2192) is currently pending in Congress, which makes it possible to integrate the territories of the United States into SNAP.“We are under the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), which does not allow aid increases in times of crisis. Such as, a natural catastrophe or pandemic. Those increases to NAP have to be made under Congress. That changes with SNAP, which allows the amount of aid to be increased in times of greatest need. We also have to advocate for lowering the eligibility requirements for SNAP…” , added senator of Bayamón. At Por Paridad, we support these claims for equality and take action for the same cause.
“In the past there were some issues related to SNAP that raised red flags. All businesses that work with the program would be required to have an automated Point of Sale system. Although the program-SNAP-provides an item to assist them , the reality that 20 years ago would have been too onerous. Today it is not, since almost all of our retail businesses, including small and medium-sized companies, have these systems,” said the New Progressive senator.
Ríos also highlighted that the actions of the Pedro Pierluisi administration in managing federal funds assigned to nutritional assistance programs have been evaluated by the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture administers the funds for these types of programs.