‘Hungry people … is a policy choice': What Food For All Oregonians bill could do to help
Oregon Food Bank President Andrea Williams told a coalition gathered Monday at the Oregon Capitol hunger in the state is at its worst since the Great Depression as a bill aimed at combating food insecurity was introduced.
Senate Bill 611, known as Food For All Oregonians, looks to address food insecurity in youth, elderly and immigrant communities. It also seeks to provide "nutritional assistance" to Oregonians under 26 or over 55 and those who would qualify for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program but don't because of their immigration status.
"It's going to take policy change to end hunger for good," Williams told the Food for All Oregonians Coalition gathered at the Capitol during her State of Hunger Address.
State Sen. Wlnsvey Campos, D-Portland and chief sponsor of the bill, said she is confident the bill is 'scalable.' A similar bill that died in the Joint Ways and Means Committee in 2023 didn't mention the program applying to specific ages, while the new one does.
"Immigrants have long been a cornerstone of our nation, and I firmly believe they should be treated as such," Campos said. "They're human beings who also should be able to have that food access."
Food insecurity in Oregon
The Oregon Food Bank saw a 31% increase — 2.5 million people — seeking food assistance throughout their network in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Williams said their meals are not enough to support growing demand and expects this trend to continue if something isn't done. They are also distributing more pounds of food now than during the pandemic, about 110 million pounds annually.
"The Oregon Food Bank and our network of regional food banks can and will do everything in our power to feed individuals and families today, but that doesn't mean it's going to end tomorrow," Williams said. "We must address the root causes of hunger."
Williams said those root causes are the systems and policies that keep people from having access to food, inflation and stagnant wages. There is also concern about what changes the Trump administration could make to social services.
"We saw food insecurity take a little dip, and some need leveling off when the government was providing cash assistance," Williams said. "So we know that it's a policy choice. Poverty is a policy choice. Hungry people in this wealthy nation is a policy choice."
What the Food for All Oregonians legislation would do
The Oregon Food Bank and the Food for All Oregonians Coalition, which is comprised of more than 160 organizations, want food assistance to extend to immigrants "who play a vital role in Oregon's economy."
A study published by the Institution of Taxation and Economic Policy found that undocumented immigrants contributed almost $97 billion in total taxes paid in 2022. In Oregon, their contributions were more than $353 million.
Only citizens and certain noncitizens are eligible for SNAP. This does not include foreign students, H-1 visa holders, certain U visa holders and immigrants with temporary protected status.
About 62,000 Oregonians are excluded from SNAP due to their immigration status, Williams said.
The Oregon Hunger Task Force is recommending legislation to create a state-funded food assistance program that eliminates the immigration-based exclusion in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Six states have a special program that makes noncitizens eligible for SNAP assistance: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota and Washington, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Decades of research shows that participating in SNAP leads to positive outcomes in homelessness prevention, education and early learning," said Christina Bodamer, Oregon Hunger Task Force member.
The Food for All Oregonians bill is a part of the larger Immigrant Justice Package, which includes universal representation, farmwork disaster relief, housing assistance and language justice.
Andrea Vanessa Garcia, Food for All Oregonians Coalition representative, urged people to email their legislators to support the legislation.
The bill was set to be presented during the Oregon Hunger Task Force's legislative hearing on Tuesday.
Alexander Banks is an intern at the Statesman Journal. Reach him at abanks@statesmanjournal.com
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