President Trump’s sweeping domestic policy law fundamentally alters how food stamps are funded, leaving states to bear some of the cost for the first time in six decades.
The move all but ensures that states across the country will adopt a patchwork of policies for a crucial aspect of the social safety net. Whether they can find the money in their budgets — estimated, in some cases, to surpass a billion dollars — will have wide-ranging, and likely uneven, consequences for some 42 million people who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Some states warn that the entire program is at risk of being eliminated if legislatures cannot come up with their share. Others are weighing whether to impose additional state taxes or cut costs elsewhere in their budgets. And some are considering imposing barriers that will all but certainly reduce the number of recipients on their rolls.
“Even states that are going to try to do their best are going to face really difficult choices. And unless this is undone, it really is the end — and I’m not being dramatic, it’s a reality — of SNAP as we know it,” said Gina Plata-Nino, interim director for SNAP at the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit that supports anti-hunger programs.
Under the new law, states are required to cover 5 percent to 15 percent of food stamp benefits beginning in 2028 if their error rate in administering benefits exceeds 6 percent. Higher error rates result in higher cost shares, though the states with the highest rates are given more time to comply. Based on rates from the 2024 fiscal year, all but eight states would be required to pay for benefits.
Altogether, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that states would contribute about $35 billion toward benefits from 2028 to 2034. Coupled with another provision increasing states’ portion of administrative expenses from 50 percent to 75 percent, two-thirds of states will have their share of annual SNAP costs increase by $100 million or more, based on the latest error rates, according to one estimate.
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The post States Grapple With Fundamental Change in Food Stamps appeared first on New York Times.
