The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote May 22 on a proposal that would slash $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
SNAP currently provides food assistance to over 42 million people, including an estimated 20 million children. The proposed cuts are part of a massive budget reconciliation package, which also includes a $715 billion cut to Medicaid. Congress is seeking to slash $1.5 trillion from this year’s budget, to support President Donald Trump’s plan of over $4 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to weigh in on the plan May 21. Hard-line Republicans have proposed deeper cuts to the Medicaid budget. But, according to several news sources, Trump was overheard telling Republicans May 20: “Dont f**k with Medicaid.”
’Pediatricians Are Losing Sleep’
SNAP benefits are provided to working families, seniors and disabled people. To qualify, families must be below 130% of the federal poverty line. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for SNAP assistance.
”Pediatricians are losing sleep over these proposed cuts,” said Dr. Sue Kressly, president of the American Pediatric Association, at a press conference May 20 organized by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. One in 5 households currently suffer from food insecurity and that number would increase exponentially if the SNAP budget is slashed, she noted.
“We know first-hand that SNAP keeps children healthy,” said Kressly, noting that hunger impacts a child’s development and their ability to learn. In the long-term, as families are forced to decide between putting dinner on the table or seeing a doctor, children’s health will decline and chronic diseases will return, she said.
”Nutritious food is medicine. I urge Congress to reject these cuts. The children of America are relying on us,” said Kressly.
State Funding
Currently, SNAP is completely supported by federal dollars. But beginning in 2028, 5 to 25% of SNAP funding will be derived from states. This may force many lower-income states to drop out of the program, said Ty Jones Cox, Vice President for Food Assistance at the CBPP. Many states have already said they will be unable to backfill the federal cuts to SNAP.
Jones Cox noted that the proposed 30% slash in SNAP’s budget was the largest ever in the program’s 50-year tenure.
School Lunch
Children who qualify for free lunch programs are disqualified once they lose their SNAP benefits which determines eligibility, said Jones Cox. Furthermore, if a school lacks sufficient enrollees for its nutrition program, it may face disqualification, she added.
The cuts will have a downstream effect on farmers, grocers, and food banks, noted the panelists.
“The overall impact of the Republican budget plan deeply hurts people in low wage jobs, provides only modest help to the middle class, and showers wealth onto the already wealthy,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the CBPP.
