SNAP Cuts Will Acutely Affect State Budgets and Older Beneficiaries, Experts Say

Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could affect how older Americans get their food, and the effects could potentially reach beyond the program in some states.

A provision in the proposed budget bill would shift the funding for SNAP benefits, which help lower-income individuals and families purchase food. It would also extend work requirements to more adults who currently qualify.

State Budgets Will Come Under Pressure

The proposal would require states to foot more of the bill for the benefits and administration of the program.

This could present a problem, as almost all states have legal requirements to balance their budgets. That means they can not run up debt, like the federal government can. So to make up for the new SNAP expenses, the states would have to divert funding from other expenditures or bring in more income, likely through tax increases, according to the Center on Policy and Budget Priorities, a nonpartisan policy research group.

Experts said the other alternative is that states may have to slash the SNAP program.

“In recessionary-like times when they have less revenue coming in, states will have to continue to reduce benefits or even fully eliminate them,” said Anne Montgomery, a health policy expert at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. “It isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility that some states might eliminate their SNAP programs.”

Work Requirements Will Include More Older Adults

The plan also includes extending its work requirements to older adults. Under the proposal, the age limit for those required to participate in 80 hours of work, training, or volunteering each month to receive benefits would rise from 54 to 64.

An estimated 1 million older adults aged 55 through 64 would either have to find work or lose benefits.

“I would imagine that this extended work requirement will be difficult for a lot of low-income older adults because many struggle to find employment,” Montgomery said. “Many older adults either face age discrimination in the workforce, or their bodies are more brittle, so they are unable to just work any job.”

Those with children under the age of 7 or who can prove they have a disability are exempt from the work requirements.