“For the past 50 years, we have maintained a promise to the American people,” Sen. Ben Ray Lujan said Wednesday.That promise Lujan is talking about is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. Wednesday, the subcommittee of Food and Nutrition joined to highlight a republican proposal which they say would slash SNAP benefits by $300 billion. “These are people that we go to church with,” Lujan said. “They’re our friends. They’re our neighbors. They might be your children’s classmates. They might be your children’s teammates.”Since its creation, SNAP has assisted more than 42 million Americans. In New Mexico, The Health Care Authority says more than 450,000 people rely on the program — more than 20 percent of the population– and if these cuts happen, it’s something Roadrunner Food Bank says will affect more than just families. “Most states are not fiscally prepared to take on this cost shift,” Katy Anderson said. “Under the current proposal, the total additional annual cost to New Mexico’s budget would be around $268 million, which is equivalent to 95 million meals.”The Republican Party of New Mexico responded to KOAT, saying these efforts from Democrats are “nothing more than political theater designed to defend a broken welfare system that fails the very people it claims to serve.”The party argues that reform like this needs to happen in order to end the exploitation of these resources.RPNM Chairwoman Amy Barela also said, “The people of New Mexico want opportunity, not dependency. RPNM stands proudly behind reforms that protect the truly vulnerable while ending the exploitation of our system by non-citizens and radical agendas.”Stay updated on the latest news with the KOAT app. You can download it here.