The document discusses proposals in Congress to address the federal budget deficit that could negatively impact families living in poverty through cuts to important social programs. It provides examples of proposed cuts to Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, child nutrition programs, and more. Advocates argue these cuts would increase poverty and hunger. The document encourages readers to educate themselves and contact their representatives to urge alternative approaches that protect vulnerable populations.

1. How Efforts to ‘Reduce the Deficit’ Could Mean More Families in Poverty Struggle to Make Ends Meet THIS WEBINAR WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 2 P.M. EDT/ 11 A.M. PDT

4. Snapshot of the Federal Budget

5. Budget More National Priorities Project has a lot of great information on the federal budget, including this: http://nationalpriorities.org/en/tools/taxday/breakdown-one-dollar/ . Federal Budget

8. House Budget Proposal Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI-1) proposed a FY 2012 budget that includes significant changes to social programs like Medicaid , Medicare, and SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp program) , repeals health reform, and cuts the part of the budget that includes Head Start , Child Care and hundreds of other programs. The House passed the Ryan budget on Friday, April 15, 235-193 . All but 5 Republicans voted for the budget; all Democrats voted against it.

10. House-Proposed SNAP Cuts Under the House Budget Proposal, the SNAP program would be made in a block grant for the states and cut by $127 billion over the next decade. Other proposals would fundamentally change the structure of SNAP or slash its funding – such as “global” spending caps and other budget mechanisms that would artificially limit spending, cap eligibility, create waiting lists, and/or sharply reduce benefits. If enacted, such proposals would harm millions of vulnerable Americans. They would throw millions of people out of the program or reduce already inadequate benefit levels to a point that many families would run out of food as soon as halfway through the month. Other impacts: would also harm the food industry, American agriculture, and food retailers; cost jobs; and reduce nutritional quality for poor families even while our nation struggles with problems of obesity and resulting health costs.

11. Why SNAP Matters Witnesses to Hunger in Philadelphia made this video of struggling mother Imani talking about how food stamps help her family, via the Coalition on Human Needs and Half in Ten’s StoryMap project: http://halfinten.org/grassroots/stories/ . WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zabBkxmY2g&feature=player_embedded

14. Why Medicaid Matters College student Kayla Sebring of Newark, OH (participant in a workshop RESULTS did on advocacy at the IMPACT conference), on the different federal programs including Medicaid that helped her family as a child, via Half in Ten’s StoryMap project: http://halfinten.org/grassroots/stories/ . WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdf1NpvBBc&feature=player_embedded#t=98s

16. Why Investments in Young Children Matter Video from the Ounce of Prevention Fund: Change the First Five Years and You Change Everything . (Also many great stories in Half in Ten’s StoryMap project: http://halfinten.org/grassroots/stories/ .) WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbSp88PBe9E&feature=player_detailpage