Katie Bergh

Screenshot from CBO: "CBO expects that some states would maintain current benefits and eligibility and others would modify benefits or eligibility or possibly leave the program altogether because of the increased costs."

H.R. 1 slashed federal funding for SNAP & imposed those costs on states as a massive unfunded mandate.

A reminder of what's at stake as the House Agriculture Committee debates an amendment to delay this cost shift: CBO says these costs could drive states to end SNAP altogether.

H.R. 1 passed 8 months ago & we still haven't seen Republicans grapple with the risk that states might withdraw from SNAP altogether because of the massive costs the new law imposes on states & localities.

State & local officials are taking this seriously. Why isn't Congress?

H.R. 1 will make this cost barrier even worse: it cuts federal reimbursement for states' costs to transition to more secure EBT cards *in half* starting this October.

Chair Thompson opposes an amendment to strengthen EBT card security & protect low-income families from having their SNAP benefits stolen because it would require USDA to cover the cost of more secure payment methods.

The cost is why most states haven't adopted them, so...

Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee passed a law cutting thousands of low-income veterans off the basic food assistance they need to put food on the table. Now they're trying to portray this cut as a "hand up." It's disgusting.

Research consistently shows that SNAP's punitive work requirement does not increase employment or earnings. It just adds red tape & cuts people off the food assistance they need to afford groceries — including people who are working or should be exempt.

Agriculture Committee Republicans seem to think that SNAP participants can't access SNAP employment & training (E&T) programs unless they're subject to the harsh work requirement. The work requirement actually makes lots of people ineligible for E&T—because it cuts them off SNAP.

Screenshot from CBO: "CBO expects that some states would maintain current benefits and eligibility and others would modify benefits or eligibility or possibly leave the program altogether because of the increased costs."

H.R. 1 slashed federal funding for SNAP & imposed those costs on states as a massive unfunded mandate.

A reminder of what's at stake as the House Agriculture Committee debates an amendment to delay this cost shift: CBO says these costs could drive states to end SNAP altogether.

Congress already delayed this cost shift for up to 2 years for states with the highest error rates, unfairly penalizing states with better payment accuracy. With factors outside of states' control making errors more likely, this additional time should be extended to all states.

State & local officials have been sounding the alarm that "significant operational disruption" from USDA's rushed implementation of H.R. 1's other SNAP cuts & the government shutdown could put SNAP in jeopardy. Congress must delay H.R. 1's massive SNAP cost shift for all states.

If Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee wanted to support SNAP participants’ ability to purchase dairy products, they probably should not have voted for the deepest cut to SNAP in history last summer.

Nothing says "laser-focused on affordability issues" like House Republicans proposing a farm bill amendment that would kick a single parent with two kids earning just under $35,000 per year off SNAP for "earning too much."

SNAP’s “Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility” Supports Working Families and Those Saving for the Future About 6 million people will lose SNAP food assistance if BBCE is eliminated — more than 4 million of them, including 1.8 million children, because their household income exceeds SNAP’s restrictive fed...

You can read more about this policy in our new paper here: www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

It's wrongheaded & deeply unfair to punish people when they try to get ahead. But that's exactly what this amendment does: it would kick low-income people off SNAP if they earn a small raise at work or buy a slightly-too-valuable used car.

Graphic showing how broad-based categorical eligibility helps working families by eliminating a benefit cliff, provides SNAP to older adults and others with incomes slightly above the poverty line, lets people build modest savings, streamlines SNAP administration, does not substantially contribute to SNAP costs, and lowers SNAP payment error rates.

46 states use this option because it encourages work, eliminates benefit cliffs, allows families to build savings so they can weather emergencies & avoid debt, reduces payment errors & streamlines program administration — all while not contributing substantially to program costs.

This amendment would eliminate a longstanding federal policy that allows states to extend SNAP eligibility to low-income households who have incomes slightly over SNAP's restrictive federal limits or who have modest savings.

Up now at the House Agriculture Committee markup: an amendment from Rep. Mark Harris that would strip SNAP eligibility from about 6 million SNAP participants, primarily working families with kids, seniors & people with disabilities.

State & local officials are urging Congress to delay H.R. 1's unprecedented SNAP cost shifts to state & county budgets, citing "significant operational disruption" as states scramble to implement the law's sweeping SNAP cuts & deal with fallout from the government shutdown.

H.R. 1's dramatic expansion of SNAP's harsh & ineffective work requirement won't just cut an estimated 2.4 million adults off SNAP.

It will also cut benefits for everyone who lives with them: about half a million people, including kids, people with disabilities & seniors.

Graphic showing 4 ways the harmful Republican megabill takes away food assistance: slashing federal funding for states' SNAP programs and shifting unaffordable costs to states and localities, taking food away from millions of people by expanding harsh and ineffective work requirements, ending food assistance for many people with a lawful immigration status based on humanitarian need, and cutting food benefits by preventing SNAP from keeping pace with the cost of a healthy diet and increasing paperwork to prove other expenses. In total, the bill cuts SNAP by about 20% through 2034. About 4 million people, including about 1 million children, would lose all or a substantial amount of the food assistance they need to afford groceries.

As the House Agriculture Committee debates amendments to reverse H.R. 1's SNAP cuts — the deepest cuts to food assistance in history — here's a reminder of what those cuts will do:

About 1 in 7 rural households use #SNAP to put food on the table, a higher share than in metro areas. By failing to address H.R. 1’s devastating SNAP cuts, the House Agriculture Committee farm bill ignores the needs of low-income rural families who need SNAP to afford groceries.

Proposed Farm Bill Ignores Unfolding Food Assistance Crisis No one should go hungry in a nation with as many resources as ours, and the farm bill presents a critical opportunity for Congress to reduce food insecurity by restoring and strengthening SNAP, our na...

Tonight, the House Agriculture Committee will consider a farm bill that ignores the needs of low-income people struggling to afford groceries, many of whom are already losing food assistance under H.R. 1's unprecedented SNAP cuts.

More from @tyjonescox.bsky.social:
www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

Arizona numbers show massive decline in SNAP enrollment SNAP enrollment has fallen dramatically in Arizona in just three months, according to the latest state numbers.

“‘The caseload decline is driven in large part by the requirements in H.R.1, passed in July 2025, that changed SNAP eligibility and imposed new quality review requirements on states,’ Brett Bezio, a DES spokesperson, told ABC15 in a statement.”

What to know about the new changes to SNAP benefits NPR's A Martinez speaks with Ty Jones Cox of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities about new work requirements for recipients of SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps.

CBPP's @tyjonescox.bsky.social on NPR's Morning Edition explains how new #SNAP work requirements are a major hit to working families and their kids.

"This requirement doesn't increase employment or earnings. It just cuts people off."

Listen here: www.npr.org/2026/03/02/n...

Speaking of policy choices: Next week, the House Agriculture Committee will mark up a farm bill that does nothing to address H.R. 1's devastating SNAP cuts as more & more low-income families lose the basic food assistance they need to afford groceries.

Given that USDA just happened to post SNAP caseload data that's typically released on Friday afternoons on a Tuesday morning ahead of the State of the Union, a reminder👇

Hundreds of thousands of low-income people have already lost the food assistance they need to afford groceries because of H.R. 1's devasting cuts. Millions more will soon see their SNAP benefits cut or eliminated. Policymakers must urgently act to address this unfolding crisis.

In the most extreme example, state-reported data show the # of SNAP participants in Arizona fell by 41% from July to January. They've struggled with backlogs after adding paperwork requirements while cutting staff—a "direct consequence" of H.R. 1, according to one state official.

While USDA has reported data only through November, we expect a much larger drop in the number of low-income people receiving SNAP moving forward as the full brunt of these cuts take effect. Some states with more recent data are showing even deeper & more alarming declines.

Chaos & confusion during the shutdown likely dissuaded some families from applying for SNAP in November. But low-income people were also starting to lose SNAP as states began implementing the Republican megabill's harsh eligibility restrictions & additional red tape in earnest.