WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's proposed budget threatens to destroy the safety net that many Arkansans rely on, anti-poverty advocates said Tuesday.
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They expressed concern about the sharp cuts the budget would make in several social programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, referred to colloquially as food stamps.
If the budget is approved, food stamp funds would be cut by $193 billion over the next decade.
Such a loss of funds would hit areas bordering the Mississippi River especially hard, said Lee Powell, director of the nonprofit Delta Grassroots Caucus.
Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana are three states where "food insecurity" is highest, he said.
Measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through annual surveys, food insecurity is defined by the agency as "a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food."
Last week, Powell helped organize a Capitol Hill conference on hunger and nutrition and federal efforts to address the issue.
Participants feared that cuts would be coming.
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Arkansas' U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers who addressed the group, told participants that the Trump budget would merely be a starting point.
"The administration gives their suggestion. Their budget is not binding at all," the state's senior senator said.
Still, the cuts proposed by Trump have alarmed people like Powell.
The reduction in spending "would have an absolutely devastating impact on the Delta," Powell said in an interview Tuesday. "These states I mentioned all voted for Trump, so he's really shafting the very states who played such a crucial roll in electing him. ... It'll be terrible if it comes to pass."
Officials with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance are also concerned about the cuts.
Of the households receiving food stamp aid, two-thirds have children or someone who is elderly or receiving disability benefits, said Tomi Townley, the organization's senior hunger and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program outreach director.
"We're talking about a very vulnerable population here, who don't necessarily have opportunities to increase their income in any way," she said.
Members of the Arkansas delegation haven't endorsed the food stamp cuts; two say they're still studying the budget proposal.
In an interview, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford portrayed Trump's budget as an early blueprint, not a finished product.
"It gives us a framework," the Republican from Jonesboro said. "The president is going to put out his wish list as every president does, but we've never passed a president's budget. I don't think that will be the case here."
As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, Crawford helped craft the last farm bill, which included the existing food stamp provisions.
"I don't think it's realistic" to expect the cuts to happen, he said.
While he wants to see cuts in government spending, Crawford said it's important to make those cuts wisely.
"I think we have to be very careful when we're dealing with issues like nutrition that we don't do a bunch of damage to programs that are designed to help people. At the same time [we] recognize we also have a responsibility to the taxpayers to be efficient and to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," he said.
A spokesman for Boozman said the lawmaker supports "programs that are effective and efficient ... and lean."
"He is committed to working with colleagues in the Appropriations Committee to see what works and what doesn't in terms of the hunger relief programs," said Boozman spokesman Patrick Creamer.
In written statements, other lawmakers and Gov. Asa Hutchinson weighed in.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, said changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are necessary, but aren't enough to fix Washington's budget woes.
"The budget signals a desire to make needed reforms to major programs like SNAP and Medicaid, but ignores the primary drivers of the deficit and debt -- runaway entitlement programs," Womack said. "Any attempt to balance the books of the Federal Government without addressing entitlement reform is unrealistic."
U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, said he remains "committed to limited government that spurs innovation and economic growth, aids the most vulnerable parts of our population, and most importantly strengthens our national security."
Hutchinson gave Trump credit for increasing military spending, calling that "absolutely the right priority."
He predicted lawmakers would act responsibly as they craft the final budget.
Spokesmen for U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs said the two Republicans are still reviewing the Trump budget.
A Section on 05/24/2017