Advocacy Fellow Autumn Byars Testifies Against HB2502

Autumn Byars is participating in a year long fellowship with ELCA World Hunger, in which young adults are placed with advocacy offices around the country. One of the goals for Autumn’s Hunger Advocacy Fellowship was to testify on a bill to the Arizona legislature.

Last week, on March 12, I attended the Senate Health and Human Services committee hearing. At this point in my fellowship, I have spent a good deal of time at the Capitol, attending hearings, meeting with lawmakers, and advocating at events, but I have yet to actually testify on a bill. The legislature’s schedule is always changing, and every time I have been at the Capitol for a hearing on a specific piece of legislation, something has always gotten in the way of testifying. Finally, last week, I cleared my schedule and was able to represent LAMA’s opposition to HB2502 & HB2503.

We have already published quite a bit of information about these bills and why we oppose them. You can find these rundowns in our blog posts or our RTS alerts. Put simply, these two bills make it much harder for people struggling to find steady employment to receive help through the SNAP program and they are opposed by several of our coalition partners, including the Arizona Food Bank Network and the William E. Morris Institute for Justice.

HB2502 requires folks who are unable to work the number of necessary hours a week to participate in an additional mandatory training program. The programs proposed in these bill would additional state (taxpayer) funding, make the process more difficult for vulnerable people and, based on similar programs in other states, are unlikely to help folks meet the work requirements for the SNAP program. These policies are also likely to cause Arizonans experiencing hunger to turn away or drop out of the program if they are unable to keep up with the additional requirements, meaning that more struggling Arizonans would go hungry.

After passing through the House on a narrow margin, HB 2502 & 2503 were transmitted to the Senate and slated for hearing by the Health and Human Services Committee (HHS). At 2:00 p.m., the Committee began hearing and voting on the bills on the agenda for March 12. Since I wasn’t sure how much time we would have or how this specific hearing would go, I only signed up to speak on HB 2502; I signed up to speak if necessary on HB 2503, and ended up ceding my time to the other experts opposing the bill.

I introduced myself to the committee as a person of faith, there to encourage the committee to empathize with our neighbors in need before voting on the bill. I shared my personal story about how when I was a child, my mother returned to graduate school, my dad’s income wasn’t sufficient, and my family participated in the SNAP and WIC program. While my mother was a student and my father pastored a small parish in rural New Mexico, these programs helped keep our family afloat. These supports helped my mother invest in her career, allowing her to go on and serve the community as a social worker. The assistance provided by these programs also invested in my brother and me, ensuring we were able to grow up without stress about food. I know first hand how important SNAP is as a lifeline, and how directly it can help people in need, allowing folks to invest in themselves, improve their lives, and give back to the community. My parents were able to exceed the mandatory work requirements and my family was lucky in this way; I cannot imagine how stressful it would be to lose that lifeline due to circumstances out of our control.

I also shared about the reality of financial stress. As a recent college student, I know what it is like to pinch pennies, and put off grocery shopping until another aid disbursement. I think it can be difficult for people who have not lived in this kind of situation to understand the type of stress that financial difficulty can cause. It is something that is on one’s mind every moment of every day and affects just about every decision a person makes. Adding additional stressors and unnecessary tasks to someone’s life when they are already stretched thin is not only unkind, but also it makes it much harder for a person to have enough time and energy to actually find work. Instead of helping people, mandatory participation would do the opposite — reinforcing the cycles of poverty — instead of offering people a way out.

I shared with the Senators that as a Christian, I am happy to pay taxes so that we are able to live together. I pay my taxes so that my hungry neighbors are able to eat, just as I once was. As an Arizonan, it is important to me that the programs that exist to help people in need in our state actually help them, instead of punishing and discouraging them.

In the end, the committee voted to pass both bills, but I don’t feel that my time was wasted. I got to show up and speak on behalf of those in need, reminding our elected officials that their job is to represent everyone, even those who can’t get to the Capitol, campaign rally, or voting booth. My story sparked a discussion among the Senators about the role that SNAP plays in ending poverty, the importance of the program, and how the program ought to be utilized. I also got to speak on behalf of our community, making it clear that we stand with and for the hungry and the disenfranchised.

As these bills now wait to be heard by the Senate Rules committee and taken to the floor for a final vote, I hope you will join me in opposing these bills! They both passed the House by only a few votes each, so there is still time to keep them from becoming law. Contact your Senator’s office and urge them to vote NO on HB 2502 and HB 2503. Find contact information here.