Maria shows Puerto Ricans’ need for food, equal treatment
The U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico are working hard to recover and rebuild after two historic hurricanes and a financial crisis that devastated our island and harmed our ability to serve our most vulnerable populations.
But our road to recovery requires a resilient and coordinated effort that includes sustained federal support. One of the most challenging areas is ensuring food security for the island’s most vulnerable residents, who are treated unequally under federal food and nutrition programs for one reason only: They reside in a U.S. territory.
As Congress considers the 2018 Farm Bill, we urge the House and Senate conferees to continue the current funding level for Puerto Rico’s Nutritional Assistance Program, as expanded by the emergency supplemental appropriation that Congress approved last February.
While the current NAP funding level is still not equal to the benefits that U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico would receive if they were treated equally and given access to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program available to residents of the states, it is a step in the right direction that must be sustained beyond 2019, when the funding approved in the disaster supplemental is set to expire.
For all the damage it caused, Hurricane Maria also put a spotlight on the unequal treatment of Puerto Rico as a territory and the deterioration of our infrastructure in large part due to chronic federal underinvestment and underfunding. The hurricane also put a spotlight on the plight of the most vulnerable U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico including the elderly, children, people with disabilities, and working-class families who are struggling to make ends meet.
These are precisely the people whom the NAP program helps, making sure that they can put food on the table and live to fight another day as they work to recover and rebuild their lives, their homes, and their communities. Following Hurricane Maria, Congress set aside $1.27 billion for Puerto Rico through NAP. This funding is allowing Puerto Rico to provide critical nutrition assistance to 347,000 new participants, while increasing the benefit amount for existing enrollees temporarily.
However, this special NAP appropriation expires at the end of September 2019, taking with it our capacity to protect many vulnerable individuals and families just as they begin to emerge from the devastation. The continuation of this protection is a critical piece to our overall recovery efforts. While we have made great progress and continue to rebuild our infrastructure and economy following Hurricanes Irma and Maria we face a long road to full recovery.
Federal elected officials must realize that this issue is not isolated to Puerto Rico. It impacts stateside communities, too, through the migration of people from Puerto Rico to the states seeking equal treatment and improved opportunities for themselves and their families. Additionally, Puerto Rico’s NAP funding directly impacts mainland food suppliers since the island imports approximately 80 percent of its food from the mainland, to the tune of $3 billion per year.
More than 1 million Puerto Ricans moved to Florida after Irma and Maria, many of them to the Orlando area. With such a strong connection, Florida’s residents — whether native or recent arrival — are invested in Puerto Rico’s recovery and reconstruction. Florida’s elected officials must be, too. The Farm Bill presents an important opportunity to do so. By pushing for an extension to Puerto Rico’s current NAP funding levels, they can help provide continued stability to vulnerable island residents, while also creating jobs and increased interstate commerce as stateside goods are purchased and consumed on the island.
Ultimately, Congress must address the fundamental issue of ending territory status to put Puerto Rico on a definitive path to equality and prosperity. But as we work together on that larger goal, the U.S. Congress must take every opportunity possible, including the 2018 Farm Bill, to move us one step closer to equal treatment that our residents deserve as American citizens.