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Jordan Baker
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Colleen Barton
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Statement attributable to Crystal FitzSimons, president, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2025 — The House Agriculture Committee sent a clear message that the health, economic stability, and dignity of tens of millions of people in this country who struggle to put food on the table are last on their priority list. The committee’s budget reconciliation bill, passed tonight (29-25 along party lines), would slash over $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s most effective anti-hunger tool, and shift costs to already overburdened state and local governments. See FRAC’s analysis of the bill. Cuts to SNAP, combined with cuts to Medicaid and economic mobility programs, will lead to increased hunger and poverty.

These cuts do not exist in a vacuum. While framed as a fiscal measure, the impact of these changes would ripple across entire sectors — harming families, farmers, grocers, local governments, and local economies. This bill is a cruel attempt to drastically shrink access to critical food assistance and deter enrollment.

The bill fundamentally overhauls SNAP by shifting federal benefit responsibilities to states already stretched thin with underfunded and understaffed state agencies. For the first time in the program’s history, states would be required to cover 5 to 25 percent of food benefit costs and 75 percent of administrative costs. This unfunded mandate dismantles Congress’s commitment to ensuring no American goes hungry.
The consequences of this bill would be severe:
  • Millions of people, including children, older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and families with low incomes would face deeper food insecurity.
  •  Small grocers, rural economies, and local food systems would suffer, as SNAP dollars disappear from communities that rely on them.
  • Grandparents, older adults, and parents with school-age children would be limited to three months of benefits in a three-year period unless they can prove they work 20 hours a week, regardless of caregiving responsibilities or other barriers.
  • States would be forced to slash eligibility or reduce services to cover the cost shift from the federal government, pushing many states to cut eligibility even during economic downturns or natural disasters, when SNAP demand rises.
SNAP benefits must remain fully federally funded to help ensure all Americans have reliable access to the nutrition they need.
Hunger is not a partisan issue — it’s a preventable tragedy happening in every community in America. House Members must stop this reckless bill from advancing any further and instead commit to protecting and strengthening SNAP, not dismantling it. The health of our families, communities, and local economies depends on it.

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The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.