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Lee County extension warns SNAP-Ed budget cut would shrink local nutrition education
Summary
Carla Belzer, county extension director, told the Lee County Board that federal SNAP-Ed funding was zeroed in a current federal budget proposal and that three local staff and programs reaching thousands of households could be affected if funding is not restored.
Carla Belzer, County Extension Director for the University of Illinois extension in Lee County, told the Lee County Board that the federal grant that pays for local SNAP Education programming had been zeroed in a current federal budget proposal and remained under consideration in Washington.
Belzer said the county extension relies on the federal SNAP-Ed grant to fund three full-time staff in Lee County and to run nutrition and food-access programs that reach thousands of households. “We have 3 staff in Lee County that are paid a 100% from that federal program,” she said. She added that the office’s data show “over 2,300 homes in Lee County” qualify for SNAP-Ed mailings and related services.
The extension director summarized other outreach the office provides to county residents, including growth in 4-H membership, an embryology classroom program that reached 285 students across 15 schools this year, horticulture and community gardening work, and a workplace- and school-focused “Welcome to the Real World” simulation for high-school students. She described contingency planning but cautioned that reduced federal funding would likely scale back programs and outreach. “We have some contingency plans. We always hold out hope,” Belzer said.
Belzer told the board the SNAP-Ed line was “0 budgeted in the current budget that is making its way through the federal government. It has passed in the house. It’s still in the senate,” and that the extension would continue to track developments and adapt programming if funding is not restored.
Board members did not take formal action on the report; the presentation was received as an informational update. Belzer encouraged board members and the public to review the extension’s quarterly packet for additional program details and to ask questions at committee meetings.
The extension’s remarks came during the county board meeting’s organization presentations and were followed by a separate tourism report from Visit Lee County.
