The Story of HB 2502 & 2503: From Testifying in Congress to Governor’s Veto
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. Lately, Autumn has been focusing on organizing our opposition to HB 2502 and 2503.
As the legislative session has gone on, lawmakers have listened to our concerns, and superfluous bills have fallen away, we at LAMA have been able to focus in on a handful of legislative priorities. Two of these bills are HB2502 and HB 2503.
Over the last few months, we have been pouring a good deal of effort into opposing these two bills, which would affect the way SNAP works in our state. We have put out multiple action alerts, RTS alerts, and explainers. I have had the chance to be particularly hands-on with these bills, even testifying in the Senate and being interviewed by Telemundo AZ. Last week, Governor Hobbs vetoed these bills and we are glad to know that the state of the program won’t be changing any time soon. Read on for a look back at LAMA’s involvement with these bills.
The Beginning
Approximately 1,600 bills have been filed in the Arizona legislature this year; it is impossible for any one office to keep track of all of them. Luckily, many of those bills fail to gain any traction, or are voted down early in the process. That means that is is not always worth the effort to campaign on every single bill that is relevant to our policy priorities. Instead, we keep our eyes out for the ones that are most likely to a great deal of good or a good deal of harm, and the ones that pick up traction. This way, we can make sure that our advocacy is making a genuine difference.
We first found out about HB 2502 and 2503 in mid February, when some of partners at the Arizona Food Bank Network and the Basic Needs Coalition identified these two harmful bills as ones that were being discussed seriously in the legislature.
As most of our community knows by now, these bills specifically targeted the work requirements for the SNAP program. Currently, a person must work 20 hours week in order to qualify for the SNAP program. If they do not meet these work requirements, they can only receive three months of assistance over a three year period. There are exemptions for people living with disabilities, parents of small children, and the like. However, many folks are not able to meet these work requirements because of regional job shortages or because they are unable to navigate the red tape needed to receive an exemption. These bills would raise the work requirements to 30 hours a week, as well as raising the age limit for an age-related exemption, meaning that more people would fall through the cracks. These bills would also require everyone failing to reach the work requirement to enroll in a mandatory job skills training course. The state currently offers a training course to SNAP participants, but it is not mandatory.
This type of requirement would add stress to the lives of many people who are already struggling, and would make it harder to comply with the stipulations of the program. This means that vulnerable people in need of help would no longer be able to access assistance. This policy was most likely to affect low income people living with disabilities and medical conditions that have not been legally recognized, those with mental health condition, and parents of children.
In Arizona, the majority of people who fail to meet the monthly work requirements while on SNAP are seasonal workers, meaning that their job security is precarious. These people are likely to meet the requirements during other times of the year, and SNAP allows families to stay afloat in a complicated job market. Many people are also at the mercy of geographical location; rural areas and communities on the reservation have a higher percentage of participants who fail to meet hourly work requirements because of job scarcity. Requiring folks to participate in a generic training program does not address either of these issues, and instead takes effort and time away from other efforts to get life back on track.
Even worse, expanding the current program would cost Arizona tax payers more money for little pay off. Other states have implemented similar programs, which have failed to be cost effective. Even if the programs did address underlying problems related to job participation, SNAP dollars come from the federal government, but the state would have to fund the training program. Considering how little this training program would do to improve the lives of Arizonans, it is our opinion that it is not worth the cost
HB2502 & 2503 would have little outcome other than demonizing poverty and making the experience more difficult.
Our Action
As the bills began to pick up traction in the House, we delved deeper into research and strategy and we began to alert the LAMA community to this pending policy. Despite opposition efforts from us and our partners, the bills passed through the House.
We continued to encourage you to oppose the bills through the Request to Speak system, contacting our own lawmakers, and paying attention to updates from our friends working at the capitol. We began publishing Action Alerts, encouraging you to reach out to your Senators and let them know about the harmful nature of these bills. We heard that several of you urged your lawmakers to vote against these bills. Thank you!
On the back end, Solveig and I were working on more strategy. At different points, we considered writing a letter to the editor of the Arizona Republic, and pushing more education on these bills. Then, one week, these bills were added to the agenda for the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
Committee Hearings and Interviews
Committee assignments come out on Thursday for the following week. Since hearing mostly happen on Monday and Tuesday, this did not give us much time to prepare! Luckily, I had been checking committee adgendas every Thursday to keep track of the status of several bills. When these SNAP bills were put on the agenda, I asked Solveig if I could attend the hearing and testify against them. One of our goals for my fellowship was to speak on a bill during a legislative hearing, and these bills were ones I felt quite strongly about.
On Tuesday, March 12th, I arrived at the capitol with a statement prepared, and I signed up to speak against HB2502 through the RTS system. I joined our partners from the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, the Arizona Food Bank Network, and the William E. Morris Institute of Justice. One lobbyist from out of state signed up to advocate in favor of these bills.
Each of us offered a different perspective; Ashely St Thomas, from AzFBN, and MJ Simpson from the Institute of Justice offered data and statistics, along with legal perspectives. I offered my perspective as a person of faith, who has a duty to speak on behalf of those who cannot testify in the legislature themselves. I spoke about the importance of these programs, and how grateful I am to share what I have so that those in need can eat. You can read more about the experience in this blog post.
Despite our best efforts, the committee voted to pass the bills, and they moved on to the Senate floor. While we waited for the Senate to vote on these bills, we continued to activate our community, urging lawmakers to oppose this harmful policy. Even so, the Senate voted to pass HB2502 and 2503 on a narrow margin.
As soon as the bills passed, we let you know. Other news organizations also sprang into action, reporting on the policies and bringing them to public attention. The Arizona mirror actually quoted my testimony, and then, the Grand Canyon Synod was contacted with an interview request from Telemundo, Az! You can watch the interview here.
Meanwhile, our partners, and many more organizations, were asking the governor to veto these bills for the sake of the poor and hungry in our state. As public attention grew, and as advocacy and lobbying groups around the state put pressure on the governor, we waited for her decision. On April 2nd, shortly after the bills’ passage had become public news, Governor Hobbs vetoed both bills!
Your outspoken advocacy absolutely shaped the Governor’s decision!
My work on HB 2502 and 2503 has held many surprise turns (most of all, being on the 10 o’clock news!). This is the first time I have been involved with a bills from start to finish, and have gotten to work on a policy through the entire process. I learned quite a lot throughout the past couple months; participating in legislative proceedings, and monitoring bill action in real time is much more lively than we are taught in school! I am glad to have a job that encourages me to direct my passions for love and service into real, concrete action. Even though my work has been a small piece of a much larger state-wide effort, the governor’s veto shows the power and efficacy that advocacy can have.
Thank you for joining me on working against these policies and protecting the programs that offer help and dignity to people in need. Now, on to the next!
Love,
Autumn
