WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, raised a Point of Order challenging the unprecedented unfunded mandate imposed by the SNAP cuts in the Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Betrayal.”
The bill requires states, for the first time, to cover a portion of SNAP benefits and pay for an additional share of program administration costs. This will shift billions of dollars onto state and local governments, forcing them to cut food assistance or reduce funding for other critical priorities like public safety, education, or infrastructure. All 23 Democratic Governors have spoken out against this proposal, and four Governors joined Klobuchar to call out these unfunded mandates last week.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined all 47 Senate Democrats in voting for this Point of Order.
A rough transcript of Klobuchar remarks is available below and video can be downloaded here.
Klobuchar: Mr. President, I make a Point of Order that the pending measure contains an unfunded intergovernmental mandate, and thus it violates section 425(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
In nutrition assistance alone, this bill shifts tens of billions of dollars onto the states, creating chaos for state budgets and hardship for families. CBO score for this bill says this, “the non-tax provisions of the substitute amendment would impose intergovernmental and private sector mandates, as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, and that the snap cost shift provisions would impose the largest intergovernmental mandate.”
Seriously, the largest shift in this whole bill, the largest unfunded mandate, is on the backs of kids and veterans and seniors, and people with disabilities. $64 billion over to the states. 44 of them have balanced budget amendments. You know, they can't pay for this.
It's hurting local grocery stores. It's hurting our farmers, and it's all done to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy. I say to our colleagues, vote for families over billionaires. Vote for fiscal sanity over this big beautiful betrayal, and vote yes. This is an unfunded mandate.
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