One Year After H.R. 1: Thousands Have Lost SNAP Benefits
One year after H.R. 1, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress, was signed into law, millions across the country are beginning to feel its effects. This is especially true for struggling Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Since last year, thousands of Kansans have been kicked off the program due to new requirements in H.R. 1 that began to be implemented last fall.
These various changes were projected to result in $178 billion in cuts to the program over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Most of those cuts were expected to come from three provisions:
- Expanding work requirements to new populations
- Excluding refugees and asylees from SNAP eligibility
- Shifting costs from the federal government to the states
Impacted Kansans
A year after the signing of the bill, our concerns about SNAP cuts have already come to fruition. Around 24,000 Kansans, amounting to 12.5% of all SNAP participants, have lost their food assistance benefits since July 2025. Nearly 11,000 of those Kansans are children.
While there is no official data on what populations are being affected by these SNAP cuts, we can assume it is the populations targeted by H.R. 1, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our state. This includes:
- Refugees and asylees
- Older adults age 60-64
- Parents with children age 14-17
- Veterans
- Former foster youth
- People experiencing homelessness
The average SNAP benefit is around $180 per person per month. For those who qualify for SNAP because they earn less than 130% of the federal poverty level, the loss in SNAP benefits equates to a loss of 10% or more of their monthly budget. What this means is that families are eating less or eating fewer healthy foods. Parents are skipping meals to ensure their kids are getting enough food every day. Families are buying more processed foods to stretch their dollars. Some families are likely making unimaginable tradeoffs, choosing to forego rent and lose their housing because they need to use their rent money to buy food, or going without necessary prescription medications because food and shelter are more immediate needs.
The impact on food access for Kansans doesn’t just end with Kansans losing SNAP benefits. Entire communities could lose access to food in a couple of ways.
First, SNAP payments can account for more than half of a grocery store’s total sales in areas where poverty is more highly concentrated. These high-poverty areas exist in both urban and rural parts of Kansas. Grocery stores tend to operate on profit margins of just 1% to 3%. If their customers no longer have funds to shop for groceries and opt instead to get food from a church or food pantry, those grocery stores are at increased risk of closing their doors, affecting everyone who frequents that store regardless of whether they utilize SNAP or not.
Second, some school budgets will likely be impacted. SNAP is used as an indicator for a process called “direct certification” for free school meals, and the percent of students who are directly certified affects how much federal reimbursement a school or school district receives for the meals they serve. Districts with high direct certification rates are able to offer free meals to the entire student population with full reimbursement from the federal government through a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Drastic drops in the number of students directly certified could put some programs at risk, causing the school to lose its CEP status. If that were to happen, families in that district would again be responsible for picking up the cost of school meals at a price of nearly $1,000 per kid per school year.
State Budgetary Impacts
H.R. 1 has significant budgetary impacts for the SNAP program. Beginning in FY 2027, the federal government will reduce its share of SNAP administrative costs from 50% to 25%, requiring states to shoulder the remaining 75%. This cost shift required the Kansas Legislature to add $12.0 million to the state budget for three quarters of FY 2027. In future years, the increase will be closer to $16.4 million.
Unfortunately, the changes don’t stop there. H.R. 1 also ends the long-established arrangement that the federal government covers 100% of SNAP food benefits that go directly to enrollees. Beginning in FY 2028, states will be required to pay a portion of food benefit costs. The amount a state is required to contribute will be tied to its payment error rates. The Kansas payment error rate was at 9.44% in 2025, which would put Kansas on the hook for 10% of costs. If this stays between 8% and 10% into 2026, our state’s cost share will be about $40 million in FY 2028.
At a time when decreased state revenue is forcing lawmakers to trim the budget, these funding increases are a hard sell. While lawmakers included the $12.0 million for SNAP administrative costs in the FY 2027 budget, it was not without controversy. Ensuring that SNAP remains fully funded in future years is likely to be a challenge, especially as the costs to states continue to increase.
The Future of SNAP in Kansas
While the cost of food continues to rise, thousands of Kansas families are losing the support they need to keep food on the table. While the Kansas Legislature turns its attention to an impending budget crisis, tens of millions in state funding is suddenly needed to maintain a program that has been successfully operating for decades. Combined, these changes to the SNAP program are going to result in new structural challenges and more Kansas kids not knowing where their next meal is coming from.
As more provisions of H.R. 1 go into effect in the coming year and with threats of Congress doubling down on the harm caused by this bill, the data will tell the story of who comes out on top. So far, what it shows is that it won’t be the average Kansas family.
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