The pandemic has served as a metaphorical earthquake that has stress tested the United States’ social safety net, especially federal anti-hunger programs.

Some of the most startling and grim images from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic were the miles-long lines outside of food banks as the economic toll of the crisis began to spread across the country. As schools closed down and businesses were shuttered, unemployment rates spiked to levels even higher than those during the Great Recession­—and many families who had never struggled to put food on the table found themselves in desperate need of help.

As talks on a bipartisan infrastructure deal continue, it’s critical to our country’s ongoing economic recovery that workforce development funding – specifically the $100 billion set aside in the American Jobs Plan – not be sidelined.

The coming months present the Biden administration with an opportunity to rethink the structure and role of SNAP, our country’s largest anti-hunger program, to better address food insecurity in the United States. During the pandemic, policymakers eased rules around eligibility and access to make it easier to prevent widespread hunger resulting from the economic toll of the pandemic. Studying these changes can inform how we modernize SNAP for the post-pandemic future.

Taking away a license over unpaid fines for minor traffic infractions makes work and family life a misery for low-income Americans. States should reform this punitive, unjust practice.

Passing long overdue family-friendly programs would make it easier for women to have both the careers and families they desire. While no woman should be expected to have children because “it’s good for the economy,” they should be empowered to build the family and career they choose.

Our education system should aim to provide more graduating high school students with the options that Kathryn had—to either pursue a college education or to start working with the prospect of a successful career.

America needs to go big on investing in a modern apprenticeship system built for the needs of our 21st century workforce.

There is more work to be done to make our federal anti-hunger policy more resilient going forward for the next crisis, and to address the structural barriers to food affordability and access.