This is a list of the budget priorities Friends of Family Farmers supports in the 2024 Legislative Session. This list will be kept up to date with dollar amounts and bill numbers as more information becomes available throughout the session.
- $1M for the Double Up Food Buck Program, general funds
- This additional funding is needed to maintain and grow the popular and well-used SNAP matching program at grocery stores, farmers markets, CSAs and farm stands across the state. Double Up matches SNAP dollars for purchases of locally grown fruits and vegetables, helping low-income families, small farmers, and local economies. In 2023 we saw a 24% increase in Double Up redemptions at farmers markets. Although funding was received in the 2023 long session, it was only a 4% increase from the previous allocation. Current 2024 program budgets had to be cut back to maintain minimal growth at current retail sites. Additional funding allows us to add more retail sites across the board, with a strong focus on sites in rural and disadvantaged communities. Any further funding secured will be leveraged to receive a federal match, further supporting growth of the program. Without increased investment from the state, the ability for the program to grow and expand is stifled. At this moment, food insecurity is higher than ever due to the combination of inflation and the ending of many pandemic assistance programs. We urge the legislature to prioritize the health of Oregonians and community food systems by funding this vital program.
- $TBD Investments in the LUBGWMA, ODA, OWRD, and DEQ department budgets
- Friends of Family Farmers is deeply concerned with the water quality emergency in Umatilla and Morrow Counties and urges the state to take any and all action possible to address this problem and its causes as soon as possible. According to the presentation from the Governor’s staff in the House Interim Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources and Water on January 11th, the three agencies tasked with long term solution and management of this problem are ODA, OWRD, and DEQ and we urge the legislature to take the recommendations for increased resources necessary for these departments to act in their full capacity to address this situation. These departments also need these resources in place in perpetuity to manage the compliance and oversight workload, reduce their backlogs and make sure that a similar situation does not occur anywhere else in the state. This is our chance to learn from this situation and do right by this community while protecting the future of Oregon’s water.