SNAP Benefit Cuts Could Cost States $20 Billion Annually: Report

A new report indicates that House Republican budget plans that may cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could cost state economies an estimated $20.4 billion each year.

Why It Matters

A budget resolution narrowly passed by the House of Representatives at the end of February orders the House Agriculture Committee, which oversees SNAP, to cut $230 billion over the next decade. According to The Century Foundation, “Republicans will need to make deep cuts” to SNAP in order to fulfill the cost cuts.

SNAP benefits—commonly known as “food stamps”—are administered nationwide to low- and no-income households that would otherwise struggle to afford groceries. In 2023, the program served an average of 42.1 million people per month—some 12.6 percent of U.S. residents. On average, SNAP recipients will receive an estimated $187 per month (or about $6.16 per day) per person in regular SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2025.

What To Know

The March 12 report says that across the U.S., SNAP benefit cutbacks could cost local economies some $20 billion every year due to a reduction in benefit dollars entering and therefore being spent in states.

States with high numbers of SNAP beneficiaries would be the worst impacted. In California, which has among the highest number of claimants in the country, the state would lose $2.6 billion from its economy if the cuts go through, while in New York, $1.6 billion would be wiped.

The report also highlights that states with high numbers of rural residents would face significant economic hits. Texas would lose an estimated $1.6 billion, while Pennsylvania’s economy would take an $884 million hit. North Carolina’s economy could see a shrink of $701 million, and $676 million in Ohio.

Will SNAP Benefits Be Cut?

The exact policies the House and Senate Agriculture Committees will adopt to implement these cuts remain uncertain. In a GOP budget memorandum published earlier this year, plans included expanding work requirements (saving $5 billion), limiting changes in SNAP’s cost to the rate of inflation ($36 billion) and capping the amount of benefits available for households with more than six people ($2 billion).

What People Are Saying

The Century Foundation senior fellow Rachel West said in the report: “As cruel as they would be to take food off the tables of millions of Americans, the damage from Trump and House Republicans’ planned SNAP cuts goes far beyond increased hunger and hardship. SNAP cuts would also hurt children’s long-term outcomes, raise costs for hard-hit rural households, hurt already-strapped farmers, and shrink our economy.”

Ivy Enoch, SNAP policy and training lead at Hunger Free Vermont, told Newsweek: “Everyone currently participating in SNAP is at risk of losing some or all of their benefits. There is no way to make such deep cuts to SNAP without harming families. This would make it extremely difficult if not impossible for millions of people to afford groceries.”