What you and I can do about hunger in America

You’ll recall President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” signed on July 4, 2025, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated could cause millions of low-income Americans to lose access to federal food assistance or Medicaid, while increasing the after-tax incomes of the rich.

KFF has an article this morning on the estimated 13 percent drop since July 2025 in national enrollment in that federal food assistance program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly referred to as food stamps). Five million people.

Elected officials, policy analysts, and anti-hunger advocates are urging Congress to delay provisions in the law that will cut federal funding for food benefits and increase the cost for states.

The provisions required states to start paying for 75 percent of the cost to operate SNAP on Oct. 1. Previously, the Agriculture Department and states split SNAP’s administration cost 50-50.

Starting in October 2027, some states also may have to cover part of the cost of SNAP benefits that had been paid fully by the federal government. The amount that a state pays toward benefits will depend on its payment error rate — how often it underpays or overpays enrollees. The higher the error rate, the higher the state’s share of SNAP benefit costs will be.

The challenge of getting the error rate down has increased the burden on applicants and state agencies and has caused families to lose benefits or face assistance delays.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has reported legislation (S 5526) to the full Senate that would delay the onset of states sharing SNAP benefit costs with the federal government for a year. The House-passed bill has no such provision.

Here is what the advocacy group Just Harvest asked Americans to tell Congress before lawmakers left town until after the midterms. It looks like the message it suggests still is accurate, with the exception that the request would be to delay the cost shift by one year, as provided by the Senate Agriculture Committee in the farm bill.

Even though lawmakers are gone, their staffs are working, so it’s worthwhile to contact their offices now and when the lawmakers return in November.

Here are specifics on the legislation, from the Congressional Research Service.

“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.” — late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., civil rights activist

Here are regularly updated voting rights resources for the November midterm elections, on John Dineen’s briefing.center website. And here is John’s daily quick commentary on his briefing.center home page.