| RICHMOND, Va. — In case you missed it, U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) and Senator Ghazala Hashmi, Chair of the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee, on Monday joined advocates and impacted Virginians in discussing the impact that $187 billion in federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will have on the state budget and on the health of Virginia families.
Nearly 447,000 families in Virginia are at risk of losing at least some of their SNAP benefits, according to an analysis from Voices for Virginia’s Children. That figure includes 73,000 families who will see their yearly benefits reduced by over $900. Benefit reductions primarily come from freezing the Thrifty Food Plan and reducing utility and internet deductions.
Additionally, new burdensome paperwork requirements threaten food access for groups that include veterans and families with teenagers. A new analysis from The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis (TCI) shows that nearly 35,000 Virginia military veterans live in households receiving SNAP benefits.
TCI has also produced a new report showing that the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, now law, could shift up to $352 million in new SNAP costs to Virginia. About $89 million of those new costs will begin next year, with the remainder set to begin in 2027.
“A study published this year found that SNAP helps protect kids from developing heart disease, but rather than Making America Healthy Again, this historic cut to SNAP will do just the opposite,” said Congresswoman McClellan, who spoke to how the cuts will impact families’ ability to afford food. “The Big Ugly Bill passed at a time when a majority of Virginians are focused on the high and rising cost of living, made worse by the president’s tariff proposals. More and more Americans worry about how they’re going to afford to put food on the table, access health care, pay utility bills and housing costs as the cost of everything increases. I’ve heard it everyday since being on August recess, whether I’m here in Richmond, in the Tri-Cities, or in the rural counties between here and the North Carolina border. People want their leaders to find ways to lower their monthly costs, but this administration and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle did the exact opposite.” [Watch a reel of Rep. McClellan’s full remarks HERE]
“When I first joined the Virginia Senate in 2020, I asked to serve on the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee,” said Sen. Hashmi. “That’s because Virginia’s farmers are an essential part of our state economy, and SNAP helps to power our local farming economies. But Republicans have passed the most substantial cut to SNAP in history because they care more about billionaire tax handouts than they do about hardworking families across this country. This bill also includes more stringent requirements that are going to make it harder for people, including our veterans, to stay enrolled in SNAP. So let me be clear: no veteran who has served this country should ever have to worry about going hungry in this country.” [Watch a reel of Sen. Hashmi’s full remarks HERE] |
