What do SNAP cuts mean for all Oregonians in the long term?
What do SNAP cuts mean for all Oregonians in the long term?
Federal costs dumped onto states at unprecedented levels
For the first time ever, states will have to pay for SNAP benefits. H.R. 1 requires states to contribute up to 15% of benefits.
It is difficult to understate how shocking this new cost-share requirement is. It will squeeze budgets across the nation and risk the loss of billions of dollars of food assistance across the country. This may cost Oregon hundreds of millions of dollars per year (the amount a state must pay depends on its payment error rate*).
When will this take effect? October 1, 2026 (admin cost shift). October 1, 2028 or October 1, 2029 (benefit cost shift to Oregon).
Guidance to SNAP participants who may be impacted: No action needed immediately. This may result in additional administrative burdens to retain benefits, so please look for announcements from ODHS of changes
*Note: Payment Error Rate (PER) does not represent fraud, which is less than 1%. These errors result from honest mistakes when navigating a complex system. SNAP participants do not cause most errors, nor can they fix them. But they usually must repay an extra amount, even if the mistake wasn’t their fault. In Oregon, 62% of overpayments are agency-caused.
Cuts to nutrition education and more
H.R. 1 eliminates all funding for Oregon’s SNAP Nutrition Education, a program that provides tools for families to make healthy food choices and be connected to nutrition resources. This means a loss of $9.5 million of funding per year, eliminating 93 full-time employees who work with families in all 36 Oregon counties.
H.R. 1 also restricts utility deductions and bars internet costs (such as monthly subscriber fees, recurring fees, modem rental costs and other related costs) from SNAP calculations. This means lower food aid for thousands of Oregon households already struggling with high utility and internet bills.
What will Oregon Food Bank do?
At Oregon Food Bank, we will continue to do everything in our power to make food available at our network of 1,200+ partner agencies across the state.
We will also work with agency staff and lawmakers to reduce the harm created by these policies. States face critical decisions in the coming months, and decision-makers must use all the tools available to them to keep food on the table for Oregonians. If you’d like to help advocate to end hunger in Oregon, you can sign up for our Action Alerts to learn about opportunities to get involved.
Learn More & Take Action
Read: What does the largest SNAP cut in history mean for Oregonians?
Our laws should end hunger — not cause it. Sign up for action alerts to learn more about how we can end hunger together.
