By Wednesday, Nov. 5, the Federal government shutdown will have broken the record for the longest in history if not resolved. Before that, two key deadlines occur. On Nov. 1, healthcare insurance premiums for 44 million Americans will increase an average of 30% as enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act premiums expire, and 42 million Americans – including more than 1 in 5 New Mexicans – will lose their food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
There is a tremendous amount of political maneuvering as I write this column, most of it unpleasant. Of course, there are various nuclear options. Rather than bringing the House of Representatives back into real session, or even swearing in Arizona’s Adelita Grijalva, elected to Congress in a special election over a month ago to fill a vacant seat, Speaker Mike Johnson convened the House for five minutes today simply to adjourn until Nov. 4.
Meanwhile, the White House would like the Senate to vote to jettison the filibuster, not to pass a budget, but to pass a year-long continuing resolution to reopen the government. This would be a tremendous abdication of fiscal power.
The immediate and urgent crisis is how a large group of Americans – and New Mexicans – are to pay their bills and feed their families while politicians dither. I am not going to make pro or con arguments for the options (none of them good) before Congress or comment further on what the administration is doing. I am going to suggest that we support our neighbors as much as we can.
The problem is simple and vast: in addition to the 460,000 New Mexicans enrolled in SNAP, more than 20,000 New Mexicans are federal employees. Not all federal employees are furloughed, but none of them are receiving a paycheck. In fact, it’s better to be furloughed; furloughed employees can apply for unemployment benefits.
So roughly a quarter of New Mexicans need help, once you consider the families of those federal employees. Food banks are going to be stressed if they are not already. I have already been contacted about sources for food assistance. There are two organizations that cover every county in the state for food assistance: Roadrunner Food Bank and The Food Depot.
The Food Depot (thefooddepot.org) covers Colfax, Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Taos and Union Counties. Roadrunner (rrfb.org) covers the rest of the state. If you have five minutes and $25 you can spare, go to the site that covers your county, find the “Give” tab at the top, and drop in your info and payment method. Then share the link with five friends. I don’t care if you read the rest of this column. That five minutes and $25 could become $125 of food for your neighbors who need it now more than ever.
These food banks are large and serve as distribution centers for many of the smaller food banks that support neighborhoods and rural communities. If you have a smaller, local food bank you know and support – by all means, send them some extra love right now. Some of the great organizations that feed their communities that come to mind are the Storehouse in Albuquerque; the St. Felix Pantry in Rio Rancho; the East Mountain Food Pantry in Tijeras; the St. Francis Newman Center Food Pantry and The Commons in Silver City; Casa de Peregrinos, Morning Star Pantry, and the NMSU Aggie Cupboard in Las Cruces.
This week, a number of restaurants have stepped up and offered free meals for children. There are lists of the restaurants on newspaper and television station websites, and I find community social media websites are also featuring these restaurants. The list keeps growing; I can’t possibly keep an accurate list here. Supporting these places with your business is a great way to help them to keep feeding kids. I suggest before you head out for a bite to eat you do a web search “SNAP kids’ meals” for your town to see who is helping out.
There are times when matters of crisis eliminate the luxury of thoughtful political dialogue. To me, this is one of those times. I am hopeful that even though we have the highest number of families who rely on SNAP here in New Mexico, we might also have the highest number of neighbors who care about them.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.
Thank you! This is what New Mexico should be all about.