California SNAP Stakeholders Denounce House Agriculture Committee’s Devastating Cuts to SNAP Food Assistance

Urge all California Members of Congress to Oppose Budget Reconciliation Bill on House Floor

May 13, 2025

Sacramento, California 

California stakeholders representing every constituency related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) known as CalFresh in California, today denounced the House Agriculture Committee’s passage of budget reconciliation legislation that would enact devastating cuts and structural changes to SNAP that will permanently worsen hunger in California, while irreparably harming state and county governments and California’s vital food and farming economy.

The Committee voted to make $300 billion in cuts to SNAP food assistance, the largest cut in history, representing nearly 30% of total SNAP funding. It is especially punitive for California, making the state bear the highest cost share of 25 percent as punishment for error rates while stripping away the administrative resources needed to address that issue. 

Make no mistake, these cuts will directly harm the 5.5 million Californians who rely on SNAP to eat. The cost shift of the benefit and administrative costs mean California would need to pay nearly $4 billion annually, an impossible amount that will require California and likely all states to make deep cuts to eligibility, benefit levels, and other cuts. 

It also strips as much as $54 billion in economic activity no longer spent in California’s retailers – resulting in the loss of more than 406,800 jobs in grocery, trucking, packing, logistics, farming, and other sectors across our food economy, further undermining families and local economies.

SNAP is the nation’s most effective anti-hunger program, helping more than 5.5 million Californians afford food every month. At a time when 1 in 4 families is taking out layaway loans just to afford groceries, with a potential recession looming, Congress should be strengthening SNAP, not making the largest cut to food assistance in our nation’s history. 

The bill would harm Californians by:

• Shifting SNAP costs onto states and counties: breaking SNAP’s foundation as a federal entitlement program available to all who qualify, and shamefully passing the buck by placing impossible financial burdens on California and every state which will require  imposing major cuts to benefits and eligibility. 

• Reduces the Quality Control tolerance to $0, artificially increasing error rates: “The current tolerance threshold exists because SNAP QC reviews follow different verification processes than when caseworkers perform eligibility and benefit determinations. These differences result in inevitable, small variations between the two calculations. By creating a $0 tolerance threshold, every state agency will have excessively high payment error rates, creating undue financial hardship on states and distracting from the important work of resolving real payment errors that need to be addressed.”

• Expanding harsh and punitive time limits: historic expansions of the failed “work for food” requirements onto adults past SNAP’s definition of “elderly” to age 65, and onto parents with children as young as seven. Time limits are proven to cut SNAP participation by half while not improving employment. This cruel, failed policy takes food assistance away because adults couldn’t navigate red tape, not because they refused to work.

• Worsens SNAP benefit adequacy by mandating that future update to the Thrifty Food Plan be cost neutral —which will erode the average SNAP benefit to just $6.20 a day.

• Restrict the Standard Utility Allowance to Elderly & Disabled households, further reducing benefits and ignoring the reality of skyrocketing utility costs for working families.

These cuts come at a time when 1 in 4 families are taking on debt to afford groceries. Rather than easing the pressure families face, this bill would make food even less affordable and deepen poverty in every region of our state. Instead of investing in nutrition and health this proposal is a clear step in the wrong direction.

The damage does not end with SNAP. The bill also includes deep cuts to critical health care and cash assistance programs, including Medicare and TANF, compounding harm to low-income families and those already struggling to make ends meet.

We call on all California members of Congress to reject this cruel proposal and instead protect and strengthen SNAP and invest in the health and well-being of our communities. 

Quotes from stakeholders below:

“California food banks are already stretched thin, serving more than 6 million people each month. There is no way that food banks can make up for the amount of food households would lose as a result of these cuts to SNAP,” said Stacia Levenfeld, CEO at California Association of Food Banks. “For every meal a food bank provides, SNAP delivers nine. We urge Congress to reject these cuts and protect SNAP; a proven program that not only fights hunger, but protects jobs in our communities.”

“As the nonprofit association representing human service directors from each of California’s 58 counties, we are deeply concerned by the House Agriculture Committee’s proposed changes to the SNAP program,” said Carlos Marquez III, Executive Director of the County Welfare Directors Association of California. “This legislation represents an unprecedented and untenable cost shift to the state and county governments in California that will undoubtedly result in vulnerable residents losing access to critical food assistance.”

“Where is the integrity in the largest cut to food assistance in our nation’s history?” asked Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO of End Child Poverty California. “The cruelty in this bill truly knows no bounds. By proposing that states must shoulder a portion of the benefit, this bill ends the federal promise that no one should go hungry, dismantling the heart of the SNAP program as a federal entitlement. On top of deep cuts to Medicaid and other vital supports, this bill will reverse decades of progress and usher in a future of poverty for our children. We urge all California Members of Congress to reject cuts to these programs and instead support children and families.”

“From large grocery chains to single owner operators, California grocers serve SNAP customers and nourish communities. If the state was to take on part of the cost of SNAP, that would be a major hit to our grocery operators and to California’s most vulnerable residents,” said Leticia Garcia, California Grocers Association Director of State Government Relations. “The variety of grocery stores currently serving SNAP customers ensures that low-income families across the state can regularly access a store where they can redeem their SNAP dollars for fresh and nutritious food. Those stores serving the most underserved areas will be forced to close their doors if they lose SNAP dollars — creating food deserts and hurting the local economy. Losing an anchor store also means other neighborhood businesses will suffer and jobs will be lost. We urge the rejection of any cuts to SNAP that will hurt families and the local economy.”

“SEIU represents the workers who determine eligibility for SNAP and the workers who serve food to children in schools,” said Riko Mendez, Chief Elected Officer of SEIU Local 521 and Executive Board Member of SEIU California. “We fight hunger every day through  this work. These proposals will make hunger worse, and make our country weaker. They should be rejected.”

“Make no mistake, the House Agriculture Committee has just voted to rip food from the mouths of hungry children to feed gluttonous billionaires. They voted for a future filled with hunger, cruelty, pain, & poverty,” said Keely O’Brien, Policy Advocate at Western Center on Law & Poverty. “This proposal is a disgusting attack on our neighbors who are struggling to put food on the table for their families. It is also a direct attack on California’s economic prosperity – robbing $54 billion from our food sector and more than 400,000 jobs. We urge all California Members of Congress to reject this proposal to pillage our most vital basic needs support systems.”

“UFCW members are proudly on the front lines of the SNAP program, helping parents and seniors buy the groceries they need for their families,” said Amber Parrish, Executive Director, UFCW Western States Council. “Make no mistake, these cuts will not only worsen hunger, but by taking away critical grocery resources, they will cut the very fabric of our food economy. It’s a double gut punch: workers will lose their jobs as families cannot afford food, and then SNAP food assistance won’t be there to help them as they look for their next job.”