People are shopping in a grocery store in Brooklyn on May 13, 2025 in New York.
Spencer Platt | Getty images
While the Republicans advance with the “large and beautiful” tax bill, federal food aid can see large cuts.
The additional nutritional aid program, or Snap, can be reduced by around 30% under the terms of the bill, which would be the “greater reduction in the history of the program”, according to Ty Jones Cox, vice-president of the food assistance policy at the Center for Budget and Political Priorities.
Snap, formerly known as food coupons, currently provides food assistance to more than 40 million people, including children, the elderly and disabled adults.
However, the programs proposed by the Chamber – which would reduce the program funding by around 300 billion dollars until 2034 – would put these advantages in danger.
“The House republican plan would take food assistance for millions that find it difficult to afford the high cost of grocery store, including families with children and other low -income vulnerable people,” Cox said in a Tuesday webinar organized by the CBPP, a progressive reflection group.
SNAP reform efforts are presented in the midst of a wider effort to reduce waste and fraud in government programs. Snap, like the other benefits of the government, can be sensitive to inappropriate or fraudulent payments.
The “Big and Beautiful Bill is restoring the integrity of the additional nutrition aid program”, said the chairman of the Chamber Agriculture Committee, Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-P-P., Said in a press release of May 14, thanks to “the incentives for the expected accounting long to control costs and put an end to the executives and the state.
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Many Americans cite high food costs as the main economic concern, according to an April Pew Research Center investigation. If new pricing policies are put into force, this could encourage food prices to increase.
In addition, the proposed instant cuts have come while some experts say that the United States faces higher recession risks. During previous slowdowns, each additional dollar spent on SNAP generates about $ 1.54 in yields to the economy, according to Elaine Waxman, senior scholarship market for the tax support and income division of the Urban Institute.
“People immediately spend dollars and they spend them locally,” said Waxman.
The proposed snap cuts would largely occur by expanding the work requirements to qualify for the advantages and by reducing federal funding for benefits and administration and leaving states to make the difference.
Federal cuts would leave states with difficult choices
The largest SNAP reduction would come from federal funding reductions to basic SnAP advantages ranging from 5% to 25% from 2028, according to the CBPP.
It would then be up to the states to find ways to compensate for this benefit deficit Cup on the program, according to CBPP.
“The change in the bill which is the most dramatic is to ask the States to share part of the cost of the advantages,” said Waxman. “This is new; from the Snap origin, the federal government has always paid the total cost of advantages.”
In particular, it would also mark the first time in the history of the Snap that the federal government would only ensure that children of each state have access to benefits, according to the CBPP.
In addition, the proposal also aims to ensure that states pay more part of the program’s administrative costs.
The way states can react to changes may vary. In the worst scenarios, some states could even get completely withdrawn from the program, according to the CBPP.
However, Waxman said most of the states will probably try to protect the advantages because they are “so critical”, even if they are not legally forced to offer the program.
“The vast majority, if not all, will try to do something,” said Waxman.
In addition to the advantages that bring to individuals and families, it also provides a “integral” part of the savings, said Waxman. In low -income rural areas, for example, rural grocery stores based on Snap customers would see food expenses drop.
“He has all these undulations that will harm many people other than people who are part of the program,” said Waxman.
Work requirements can cost families $ 254 per month
The head of the minority of the Hakeem Jeffries Chamber, Dn.y., during the press conference of the Democrats of the Chamber on the Cups of Medicaid and Snap proposed by the process of reconciliation of the Republicans.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty images
SNAP work requirements already make sure that some people have to work at least 80 hours a month to qualify for the benefits of the program. This includes people aged 18 to 54 who are able to work and who have no dependent people. The current policy also limits the benefits for certain people to three months within 36 months, unless the work requirements are met.
The proposed legislation would expand that these work requirements, according to the urban institute, by:
- extend household requirements with children, unless they have a child under the age of seven;
- Expand the work requirements and deadlines for people aged 55 to 64;
- limit the flexibility of states to request derogations from employment policies in high unemployment areas; And
- Reduce the discretionary exemptions from the deadlines that states can provide.
The expanded work requirements would affect 2.7 million families and 5.4 million people, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.
This includes 1.5 million families who would lose advantages entirely and 1.2 million families who would receive lower advantages. It also includes 1.8 million people, including 48,000 children, who would fully lose benefits; and 3.6 million people, including 1.5 million children, who would receive lower advantages, according to the urban institute.
Families who lose some or all their advantages would lose $ 254 per month on average, according to research. Meanwhile, families with children would lose $ 229 per month on average, the urban institute revealed.
