Normal Mayor Chris Koos is among more than 250 mayors who are standing up against the Trump administration’s plans to cut 3.1 million people from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The group of mayors signed a letter to an administrator of SNAP saying the move will increase food insecurity and hunger.
Koos said the issue isn’t partisan, but “basic human rights.”
“People that live in this country should have access to food and basic nutrition,” he said. “I think it’s the Christian thing to do. It’s the moral thing to do.”
Not only would reducing the food stamp program stress local food banks and social service agencies, but Koos said it could also increase crime.
“I think hunger would increase crime rates,” he said. “People are going to eat if they can and they’re going to do what they have to do to eat.”
He said the cut could also lead to former SNAP recipients eating less healthily, which could lead to long term health effects.
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