Congress considering cuts to SNAP

The U.S. Senate is considering a budget bill that would slash $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through 2034. SNAP provides food assistance and is an important tool used to fight hunger in the U.S.

This proposed bill would size down SNAP’s budget by 30%, which is the largest cut in the program’s history. The Arizona Food Bank said thousands of people in Arizona could lose their grocery benefits.

This would place a strain on food banks in Arizona as more Arizonans would need more food assistance from the food bank. Also more costs would be put on the states due to the proposed budget bill.

To garner more money to cover these new financial responsibilities, the state could possibly have to consider raising taxes or cutting critical programs.

Ashley St. Thomas, Director of Public Policy at the Arizona Food Bank Network, joined “Arizona Horizon” to share how this proposed budget bill could affect Arizonans.

“So it’s not just in mass cuts, it’s structural changes to the program. Which has existed in its current form since 1964, and this would be the first time cuts of this magnitude are being discussed. And they’re primarily going to be done in three ways. One is cost sharing with states for the first time ever, the benefits to date have been fully federally funded but this would be the first time the state would be required to put in money for the benefits. There would be expansion of work requirements like you said, and then a recalculation of the benefit would no longer be allowed,” St. Thomas said.