Across the country, food assistance remains one of the most consistent needs families bring to United Ways and 211. For the fourth consecutive year, 211 data shows that requests for housing (6 million), utility (3.1 million), and food (2.5 million) assistance were the most common. In 2025, needs were exacerbated by disruptions to SNAP benefits and shrinking resources for local food pantries. 

SNAP is the nation’s largest nutrition program, and it depends on a strong federal-state partnership. H.R. 1 introduces a significant funding shift to the SNAP program in FY 2027, requiring states with high error rates to pay a share of SNAP benefits and all states to cover 75 percent of administrative costs.  

This is the first time in history that states have had to bear any of the cost of SNAP benefits, and it will hit budgets hard. For many states, this shift could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually at a time when they are already grappling with tighter budgets and reduced federal support across other programs. 

Implementing these changes too quickly risks destabilizing SNAP operations and undermining service delivery. To ensure smooth, fair implementation, Congress should delay all new SNAP cost share requirements until FY 2030. A uniform, nationwide delay would give states the time needed to reduce error rates, modernize systems, and implement federal policy responsibly.