More than 4 Million Will See Loss or Reduction of Benefits from Republican Cost Shift and Red Tape Provisions
WASHINGTON – Analysis from the non-partisan, independent budget office shows Congressional Republicans’ budget cuts will cause higher grocery costs for millions of Americans each month whose food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will be taken away or reduced. The Congressional Budget Office projects that total cuts to SNAP will total nearly $290 billion in the Republican bill.
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and House Committee on Agriculture Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN) released a letter from the non-partisan, independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which analyzed House Republican proposals included in their Billionaire Tax Scam that would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). CBO’s analysis shows that Republicans’ plan raises grocery costs by taking food assistance away from people, despite the difficulty many families are already facing to put food on the table.
The letter responds to a request from Ranking Members Klobuchar and Craig, which asked CBO to estimate the impact that provisions in the House Republicans’ reconciliation bill would have on SNAP participation and benefit levels.
House Republicans rushed this irresponsible bill to the floor without confirming its full impacts on the immense threat it poses to food assistance for vulnerable seniors, children, working families, veterans, and Americans with disabilities.
CBO finds that these provisions would result in:
3.2 million Americans will lose their food assistance entirely as a result of the red tape and stricter eligibility requirements placed on older Americans, parents with children 7 and older, and households living in areas of or during times of poor economic conditions.
1.3 million Americans would lose SNAP entirely or have their benefits cut as a result of the provision forcing states to cover a significant portion of SNAP benefit costs. In its letter CBO noted it expected some states to respond to the cost shift by cutting benefits or eligibility or “leave the program altogether because of the increased costs.”
An average reduction of SNAP benefits of $15 dollars per month by 2034 for every single SNAP participant (more than 42 million Americans, currently) by 2034 as a result of the cuts to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). CBO also found that cuts to the Thrifty Food Plan would reduce spending for Summer-EBT the Nutrition Assistance Program for Puerto Rico, and TEFAP commodities for food banks because each are based on the TFP as well.
120,000 to 250,000 lawful residents of the US having their food assistance terminated entirely, many of them refugees or asylees fleeing violence and conflict.
420,000 children each month will see decreased National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program assistance due to the state cost shifts, as interconnections between SNAP and school meals.
More than 10 million SNAP households will experience benefit reductions of an additional $10 per month due to a prohibition on internet expenses counting toward household utility expenses. A significant number of households would also see their food assistance reduced by $100 per month because of changes in how low-income energy assistance is treated for SNAP eligibility purposes. In total, CBO projects that these two provisions alone will cut food assistance for more than half of SNAP households by $17 billion.
The analysis from CBO can be found here. The letter from Klobuchar and Craig to CBO can be found here.
SNAP is the nation’s largest and most effective food assistance program, serving 42 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans.
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