MAZON Statements

Following Republican budget cuts this summer that slashed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other basic needs programs, members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing today on “Exploring State Options in SNAP.” Committee members explored the impact of the legislation on the tens of millions of Americans who utilize federal food assistance programs to keep food on their tables. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger released the following statement highlighting the dangers that these draconian cuts pose and the alarming possibility of states opting out of SNAP entirely. 

MAZON President & CEO Abby J. Leibman stated:

“Recent Republican budget cuts to basic needs programs like SNAP are already impacting families’ abilities to keep food on the table. But today, we heard more of the same lies, half-truths, and fearmongering from conservative members of Congress more interested in misleading headlines and growing tax cuts for the wealthy than actually helping their constituents in need.

“Here are the facts: the budget reconciliation law passed this summer prescribes the largest cuts to SNAP in the history of the program. This stunning federal disinvestment will exacerbate hunger for the most vulnerable among us, including children, single mothers, veterans, and seniors. It will require states to fund unworkable, unprecedented portions of SNAP benefits and administrative costs. It will cut proven programs that help families stretch their grocery dollars, and it will freeze SNAP benefit amounts from keeping pace with the cost of a healthy, realistic diet. By design and intention, it will devastate one of the most effective anti-poverty programs and the most effective anti-hunger program our country has ever known.

“Regardless of the back-slapping and self-congratulatory attitudes of so many in Congress today, we know that the Republican budget cuts to basic needs programs will make our country more hungry, more sick, and more unequal. Our Jewish faith demands that we stand up for those in need, and we will continue to fight for a better way forward that restores hope and security to the tens of millions of Americans who depend on these programs to meet their everyday needs.”

Ahead of today’s hearing, MAZON submitted official testimony outlining the serious dangers that the recent cuts to SNAP represent. It reads, in part:

“We are gravely concerned about the largest budget cuts to SNAP in the program’s history, which will exacerbate food insecurity for the most vulnerable people in the country… SNAP is and has always been an anti-hunger program, not a jobs program. [MAZON has] argued time and again that hunger is not a reasonable nor humane motivator for work, and SNAP has long been one of the most effective government programs at reducing poverty in the United States.

“There are several ways that states can take immediate and long-term action to improve the lives of those facing hunger in their communities. Federal policymakers must work directly with state leaders to utilize the options available to increase SNAP participation and use of benefits. All efforts to utilize state options and flexibilities must be in service of enhancing support for those facing hunger.”

MAZON’s full written testimony can be found here.

MAZON also recently published a fact sheet on how the Republican budget cuts will worsen hunger, with an emphasis on the impact that these cuts will have on the state level. Critical facts include:

• Starting in October 2026, the federal reimbursement for SNAP administrative costs will drop from 50% to 25%, leaving states to cover the remaining 75%. This change will further strain state and county budgets, reduce staffing, delay services, increase administrative burdens, and reduce or eliminate SNAP benefits for about 300,000 people in a typical month.
• Beginning in October 2027, most states with payment error rates of 6 percent or greater will have to pay at least 5 percent of the SNAP benefit costs in their state, up to a maximum cost share of 15% — the first time in history that the federal government has not covered the full share of benefits.
• Despite the fact that evidence shows that stringent work reporting requirements do not improve employment outcomes and results in many losing food assistance due to red tape, the new law drastically narrows the groups and ages of those qualifying for work exemptions. It will:
  • Raise the age of those subject to work reporting requirements from age 54 to 65;
  • Redefine the age of a dependent child from under 18 years to under 14 years of age; and
  • Remove previous exemptions for veterans, unhoused individuals, and youth exiting the foster care system.
• The new law restricts states’ ability to request U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) waivers on work reporting requirements to only areas where the unemployment rate is 10% or greater, undermining a state’s ability to respond to local labor market conditions and increasing barriers to access for those in economically distressed areas.
• Funding is eliminated for the SNAP Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Program (SNAP-Ed), which provides resources to assist beneficiaries in stretching their SNAP dollars, learning how to cook healthy meals, and leading active lifestyles — essential strategies and interventions to improve nutrition and prevent diet-related disease.
• Future updates are limited to the Thrifty Food Plan, which calculates benefits for SNAP and other food assistance programs, to those that are cost-neutral. This change will prevent benefits from keeping pace with the cost of a realistic, healthy diet over time.
• While undocumented immigrants have never been eligible to receive SNAP, benefits will now be stripped from about 90,000 legal immigrants, including refugees, asylees, and those with humanitarian status such as survivors of domestic violence and trafficking.
• States will also be prohibited from considering internet costs as part of the “Standard Utility Allowance,” limiting the availability of the SNAP standard heading and cooling allowance.

MAZON’s fact sheet, “How Recent Republican Budget Cuts Will Impact Hunger,” can be found here.

To learn more about SNAP and the overall impacts from the Republican budget bill, visit https://mazon.org/priorities/snap/.