Hungry by Design

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) began in its modern form under Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his “War on Poverty”. Donald Trump—in what might be called a “War on Poor People”—was the first US president in history to suspend funding for SNAP during a government shutdown. The $186 billion cuts to the program in his signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act or BBBA, are the largest in the program’s history.

Who uses SNAP?

Nationally, around 40 million people receive SNAP benefits each month. Of these, roughly 40% are children. Adults over the age of 60 make up about 20%. An additional 10% or so are disabled adults. Of the roughly 30% of SNAP beneficiaries who are working-aged adults, 60% live in households with dependent children.

SNAP recipients

How many people does SNAP help in Michigan?

In Michigan, about 1,474,400 residents, or about 1 in 7 members of the population, receive SNAP aid. That’s higher than the national average. More than 46% of Michigan SNAP recipients are in working families. That’s also higher than the national average, which is 38%.

How will the cuts in the BBBA be realized?

Although work requirements for receiving SNAP have been in place since 1971, the current expectation that able bodied adults without dependent children work twenty hours per week in order to receive SNAP was put in place during the Clinton administration. The cuts to the program will mostly be realized by narrowing who is exempt from these requirements:

• Raising the age of exemption from 54 to 65

• Lowering the age of dependent children from 18 to 14

• Limiting the ability of states to grant waivers for work requirements for high local unemployment

• Ending the exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults aging out of foster care.

Additionally, any state with an error rate of over 6% will have to pay up to 15% of the cost of SNAP. Since the food stamp program began, the federal government has covered the cost of the food. States currently cover 50% of the administrative costs, but under the BBBA, this will increase to 75%. In 2024, only seven states had error rates under 6%. Michigan’s error rate in 2024 was 9.53%, which means the state would have to pay 10% of SNAP benefits, equal to about $200 million per year. Since states, unlike the federal government, are not allowed to spend more than they take in in a year, this will cause states to either reduce SNAP benefits or cut other services.

What counts as an error?

Overpayment due to income updated too late, child support not counted correctly, or a failure to report a temporary earnings change count as errors. Underpayment due to a missed deduction such as childcare or medical expenses count as errors. Data entry mistakes or missed deadlines by caseworkers (who typically handle 200 - 400 active cases at a time) all count as errors. Fraud in the SNAP program accounts for less than 1% and is subject to criminal prosecution. In the end, these changes will result in 4 million people losing some or all of their benefits. The majority of these losses will be due to paperwork or reporting barriers, rather than true ineligibility.

How much money will cutting SNAP save the federal government?

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that cuts to SNAP will save the federal government $1.13 trillion over 10 years. Seems like a lot of money, right? Well, the CBO estimates that in the same period of time, the tax cuts in the BBBA that will go to the top 10% of earners will cost the federal government $2.3 trillion, or almost double what was saved by the cuts to SNAP. Overall, the CBO estimates that the tax cuts in the BBBA will lead to an increase to the national debt of $3.4 trillion in the next 10 years.

What can we do?

In Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor Indivisible supports Food Gatherers. Though private food banks can’t replace SNAP, every bite matters to hungry children.

More broadly, we can work for change at the state and national level. We know America can afford to feed its kids—if we choose to do so.