The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable John Thune
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries 
Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives 
Washington, D.C. 20515 
 

The Honorable Charles Schumer
Minority Leader, U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510 

Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Leader Thune, and Leader Schumer,

SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is one of the most powerful tools states have to address hunger, improve overall health, and help people overcome poverty. In 2024, SNAP provided food benefits to more than 42 million people in the United States, helping to address the needs of more than 13% of households across the country who experienced food insecurity.

Recent U.S. House and Senate proposals would effectively gut this critical food assistance that helps families with children, older adults, and working people afford the rising cost of groceries and put food on the table. Congress has proposed profoundly changing the relationship between the federal government and states—by shifting unprecedented costs to states for the first time in the 50 years of SNAP’s history. Under this plan, states will need to find millions or even billions of extra dollars in their budgets or be forced to leave the SNAP program entirely, potentially cutting off millions of Americans from this vital assistance.

Congress is forcing states into an impossible ultimatum: either come up with new funding to backfill federal cuts or cut off families from essential food assistance. The idea that states will be able to respond to these massive cuts by backfilling with state resources is unrealistic.  If states cannot meet the full cost share, they will need to cut SNAP enrollment or end their program entirely. States have limited options to reduce their SNAP enrollment, and with SNAP being a safety net program meant to help the most vulnerable, states are one economic downturn or natural disaster away from seeing increased SNAP demand.  

If states are forced to end their SNAP programs, hunger and poverty will increase, children and adults will get sicker, grocery stores in rural areas will struggle to stay open, people in agriculture and the food industry will lose jobs, and state and local economies will suffer.

These cuts from Congress don’t just increase state costs – they make it nearly impossible for states to effectively plan for these long-term budget impacts. That is because the amount a state owes annually would depend on its payment error rate, a figure that changes from year to year and is based on administrative errors.  States, which must balance their budgets by law, will not know how much funding will be needed to maintain SNAP until three months before the bill comes due. Strained state budgets cannot backfill these cuts, especially as Congress simultaneously proposes to slash Medicaid, disaster relief, and other federally-funded safety net programs.

The combination of massive cost increase to states, the unpredictability of how much a state will be on the hook for from year to year, and the need for states to balance their budgets creates a significant risk that states have to leave SNAP altogether. Congress’s own budget office confirmed that this risk is very real. And while we are encouraged that the Senate’s “umpire,” the parliamentarian, confirmed that instituting a SNAP benefit cost share on the states violates Senate rules, we remain concerned that Congress’s ongoing attempts to cut costs in the SNAP program will result in millions of Americans losing their nutrition benefits.

To be clear, states already have skin in the game for the SNAP program. State governments currently pay for half of the cost to run the program; in some states, county and Tribal governments also contribute to that cost. In addition, a system to ensure states use SNAP dollars effectively is already in place: Congress charges financial penalties if states have two consecutive years of high error rates.

As Governors, we urge Congress to honor its commitment to the people of the United States of America by rejecting any proposals that would put state SNAP programs at risk. Cuts to SNAP will mean that millions of Americans won’t get the food they need for their families. And it will result in too many Americans forced to survive rather than thrive. 

Sincerely,

Governor Josh Stein 
State of North Carolina

Governor Katie Hobbs 
State of Arizona

Governor Gavin Newsom
State of California

Governor Jared Polis
State of Colorado

Governor Ned Lamont
State of Connecticut

Governor Matt Meyer
State of Delaware

Governor Josh Green, M.D.
State of Hawaii

Governor JB Pritzker
State of Illinois

Governor Laura Kelly
State of Kansas

Governor Andy Beshear
Commonwealth of Kentucky

Governor Janet Mills
State of Maine

Governor Wes Moore
State of Maryland

Governor Maura Healey
Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer
State of Michigan

Governor Tim Walz
State of Minnesota

Governor Phil Murphy
State of New Jersey

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
State of New Mexico

Governor Kathy Hochul
State of New York

Governor Tina Kotek
State of Oregon 

Governor Josh Shapiro
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Governor Dan McKee
State of Rhode Island 

Governor Bob Ferguson
State of Washington

Governor Tony Evers
State of Wisconsin

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