SNAP Beneficiaries Could See Monthly Food Benefits Shrink as Pandemic Ends

Residents receive free food as part of a Bowery Mission outreach program in New York City, on Dec, 5, 2013. The Christan ministry said it has seen a spike in need since food stamps to low-income families were reduced in November with cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. John Moore/Getty Images

Americans in 32 states are expected to see their benefits under the SNAP food assistance program shrink by $95 per month, starting in March, as the federal government ends the temporary emergency allotments introduced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that offers low-income people assistance to buy food. In March 2020, Congress passed a law allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to provide emergency allotments to households receiving SNAP benefits to help Americans get through financial hardships brought about by the pandemic.

At the end of December 2022, Congress passed another law that ends emergency allotments nationwide after February 2023.

For almost three years, the emergency allotment provided SNAP beneficiaries with at least an extra $95 that they could spend on food on a monthly basis.

In 18 states, emergency allotments for SNAP beneficiaries have already been stopped. In 32 states, emergency allotments will cease in March and benefits will revert to normal levels.

“More than 41 million Americans receive food-buying benefits through SNAP. They rely on these benefits to put food on the table each month. That’s why it’s so important they know what’s happening to their benefits—and when—so they can plan for themselves and their families,” the USDA stated in a post on Feb. 8.

States that have already ended SNAP allotments include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

[https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2023/02/08/snap-emergency-allotments-are-ending]

An End to Extra SNAP Benefits

The SNAP emergency allotments were never intended to be a permanent benefit. Instead, they were only supposed to be implemented until the federal government declared that the COVID-19 public emergency was ending.

In late January, the Biden administration indicated that it plans on ending the COVID emergency in May. A provision in the government’s spending bill had limited SNAP emergency allotments until February. Some foresee the ending of emergency allotments to hit financially vulnerable people in the coming months.

“We know that these increased benefits have been important to so many Oklahomans over the last three years and that this change will impact some SNAP users harder than others, particularly our senior and disabled neighbors,” said Chris Bernard, president and CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma, according to a Jan. 25th press release by the Oklahoma Human Services.

“Undoubtedly, this will create an increased demand on our charitable organizations across the state and an increased need for Oklahomans to support their local food pantries and food banks.”

Social Security Impact, Curbing SNAP Spending

While SNAP benefits are estimated to shrink by $95 a month once the emergency allotment provision ends, some households might see the benefit shrink even more if they are receiving Social Security payments.

This is because the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, which pushed up such payments by 8.7 percent in 2023, can raise the income of such households. As a result, the SNAP benefits they are eligible for can decrease. According to FNS estimates, roughly half of all households receiving SNAP benefits also receive Social Security payments.

Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing to limit SNAP spending as they battle with Democrats over the issue of raising the debt ceiling. Among the list of things Republicans on the House Budget Committee want in exchange for agreeing to raise the debt limit is to target fraud in programs like SNAP.

GOP lawmakers calculate that cutting down fraud in SNAP and the child tax credit program could result in savings of around $70 billion. In addition, a group of Republican lawmakers have also urged President Joe Biden to better position SNAP funding toward people in need while incentivizing able-bodied people to return back to work.