RICHMOND, Va. — A new report released this week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reveals how proposed federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program could have devastating impacts on Virginians and the Virginia budget. Potential cuts to SNAP benefits under a 10% cost-share requirement could blow an approximately $352 million hole in Virginia’s biennial budget or force massive cuts to SNAP programs that would put 827,800 Virginians at risk of going hungry.

Today, Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke (D-Hampton), Delegate Bonita Anthony (D-Norfolk) and Delegate Mike Jones (D-Richmond) joined The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis and impacted Virginians to discuss the report and its potentially drastic effects on everyday Virginians. Video of the press conference is available here.

Congress is currently considering a U.S. House-passed budget resolution that would cut up to $230 billion in funding for SNAP over the next 10 years in order to pay for massive tax handouts for the ultra-wealthy. Some Congressional leaders are calling for states to pay a portion of SNAP food benefits for the first time.

“House Republicans are openly talking about doing something they tried to do in the first Trump administration: shift SNAP costs to the states,” said Virginia Senate Majority Caucus Chair Mamie Locke (D-Hampton). “Shifting SNAP costs to the states could blow a $352 million hole in Virginia’s biennial budget in order for our commonwealth to keep current levels of SNAP coverage. Under the Trump-Musk economy, food prices are skyrocketing and people are finding it harder and harder to pay their bills. This means hunger will rise. We should be having a conversation about strengthening programs that help feed hungry people, and not weaken them like the current Congressional Republican budget plan calls for.”

In Virginia, more than 67% of SNAP participants are in families with children and more than 33% are in families with members who are older adults or people with disabilities. Research has proven that SNAP reduces food insecurity and is linked to improved health, education, and economic outcomes, and to lower medical costs for participants.

“SNAP is not just a safety net, it is an investment in Virginia,” said Del. Bonita Anthony (D-Norfolk). “And it helps more than 800,000 Virginians put food on the table from Hampton Roads to Richmond to Northern Virginia to our neighbors in Southwest Virginia, while supporting local farmers and our state’s food economy, but now, those benefits are at risk.”

According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, this February, the SNAP program was utilized by more than 170,000 people in Central Virginia, more than 230,000 people in Hampton Roads, more than 215,000 people in Northern Virginia, and more than 240,000 people in Western Virginia.

“We know families, friends, people we see on the block that are going to be impacted by this,”  said Del. Mike Jones (D-Richmond). “This isn’t just about statistics and numbers, but there are real families, real stories that are going to be completely impacted and devastated by what’s going on up in Washington, D.C.”

According to the report, SNAP benefits lifted an average of 104,000 people above the poverty line in Virginia, including 42,000 children, per year between 2015 and 2019.

Most SNAP participants in Virginia held incomes that were at or below the poverty line, leading many to struggle to put food on the table. The most recent data in 2023 revealed that in Virginia:

• 10.0% of households were “food insecure,” meaning that their access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources.
• 10.2% of the population lived below the poverty line.
• 12.7% of children lived in families below the poverty line.
• 9.5% of older adults lived below the poverty line.
• SNAP reaches populations in need: 77% of eligible individuals participated in SNAP in Virginia in pre-pandemic 2020.

“Let’s be clear: this is a problem that can be avoided if Congress rejects this budget framework,” said Ashley Kenneth, President and CEO of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis. “Millionaires and billionaires do not need additional massive tax handouts. SNAP funds should not be depleted in order to pay for these tax handouts. And state lawmakers should not have to worry about having to make these difficult decisions.”

“Programs like SNAP are life-changing because it is the difference between having to skip another day of food or not,” said Tamika Spears, a Richmond resident who is a mother of three receiving SNAP benefits. “It is thanks to SNAP that I can feed my kids, put myself through college and am able to strengthen my family—but that will not be possible if Congress stays on track to cut SNAP.”