For Immediate Release Contact: Caitlin Cook, 304.720.8682
President Trump’s budget proposal would shift a significant share of the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program’s (SNAP, previously known as Food Stamps) benefits to states and, for the first time, allow states to cut SNAP benefits, seriously threatening SNAP’s extraordinary long-term success in reducing severe hunger and malnutrition, according to a new report from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. PDF news release.
“This proposal threatens to dramatically increase the number of West Virginians at risk of going hungry,” said Kay Albright, Manna Meal Administrative Manager. “In a nation of this much wealth, that would be unconscionable. West Virginia’s congressional delegation must reject any proposal that puts West Virginians, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities, at risk of not getting enough to eat.”
West Virginia would be unable to absorb such significant cost shifts without cutting SNAP benefits and taking other steps that could increase hunger and hardship,” said Ted Boettner, West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Executive Director. “And West would face longer, deeper recessions, since SNAP plays a key role in sustaining demand at local food stores during economic downturns.”
And, these added costs would come on top hundreds of billions of dollars in additional costs shifts to states both in the President’s budget. In total, the President’s budget would shift about $453 billion annually to states and localities once the cuts were fully implemented in 2027.
