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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 5h

Weird day to be someone who actually knows how SNAP works on The Other App

Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 10h

Criminals have been exploiting outdated EBT card technology to steal SNAP benefits from unsuspecting low-income families. Since December 2024, the victims of this theft have had no recourse & federal action to prevent it has largely stalled — for a deeply infuriating reason:

The main thing Congress has done about SNAP theft is to abandon a previous effort to help victims. The federal government had, since late 2022, been replacing people’s stolen funds, just as banks are required to do if your debit card is hacked. As a result, 753,929 households were compensated.

In December 2024, a bipartisan spending agreement that included a provision to extend these reimbursements through 2028 was on the brink of becoming law. But Elon Musk, who had been named a leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency, attacked the legislation more than 100 times on X, pushing to “defund everything.” (Musk did not reply to a request for comment.) Trump then sank the deal. Victims of SNAP theft can no longer get any of their benefits replaced. And with the government off the hook for losses, there is now less incentive to put money into the solution.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

A sign that people are not being "lifted" off SNAP: they're showing up to wait in the hours-long line at the overwhelmed local food pantry.

Those forces have hit especially hard in areas that were already struggling economically, like West Virginia’s once-flourishing coal mining communities. The spike in gas costs means a 45-minute drive to the nearest grocery store can set residents back more than $15. And West Virginians who must comply with the new work requirements to receive food benefits are confronting a lack of jobs and training programs. Since last summer, about 24,000 people, including 8,000 children, have lost food stamps, according to the West Virginia Department of Human Services.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Last year's reconciliation law will shift huge new SNAP costs to states based on their SNAP "error rate." In response, some states passed laws that will make it even harder for eligible families to access SNAP — and in some cases, could *increase* errors.

cbpp.org

States Are Rushing to Respond As Congress’ SNAP Cost Shift Approaches. Are They Ready?

The harmful 2025 Republican reconciliation law will require most states starting in October 2027 to pay a portion of SNAP benefit costs for the first time in the program’s history. If Congress fails t...

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

In the year after the Republican reconciliation law enacted the deepest SNAP cuts in history, SNAP participation in Florida fell by 22%. About 247,000 of the more than 647,000 Floridians who lost food assistance between July 2025 & July 2026 were children. www.jacksonville.com/story/news/l...

The enrollment drop makes the growing crisis "invisible, when hundreds of thousands leave the rolls, it can look like need went down, when really it just moved to the food bank and food pantry lines," she said. In the food bank's 12-county service area, SNAP enrollment fell by about 67,000, from 280,715 to 213,654, "pulling roughly $12.7 million per month in food-assistance dollars out of our community," King said. "At a moment when groceries, health care, housing and the overall cost of living are all climbing, the safety net is contracting."

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

75% of the Louisiana families who lost SNAP after the enactment of the Republican reconciliation law were cut off for procedural reasons. Families are losing food assistance due to paperwork issues, not because they no longer meet eligibility requirements. veritenews.org/2026/10/07/f...

Many states, including Louisiana, have placed pressure on applicants to submit more information more often to verify their eligibility to reduce the state’s payment error rate and limit how much the cost of benefits shifts to the state.

“It’s been a race to drive down those error rates,” Llobrera said.

He said the challenge of implementing new program restrictions and requiring more documentation has increased the burden on applicants and state agencies. The agencies have to process more paperwork on a tight timeline without enough staff. This can increase the likelihood of errors when processing applications, potentially leading to rejection of benefits for more people. It’s also harder for applicants to meet additional verification requirements.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Staff turnover & eligibility system issues are driving up ND's SNAP error rate. Thanks to H.R. 1, that puts the state on the hook for a % of SNAP benefit costs. Also thanks to H.R. 1, the federal match for staff, technology & other error reduction efforts was just cut in half.

bismarcktribune.com

North Dakota SNAP error rate rises, putting millions in state costs at risk

North Dakota’s SNAP payment error rate has reached 13% so far in 2026, a level that could eventually leave the state responsible for millions in program costs.

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Reposted by Katie Bergh

NPR @npr.org · 01/10/2026

States will start to pay a larger share of the bill to run the food assistance program, as federal funding for operational costs shrinks. trib.al/NaRdnSM

trib.al

SNAP's funding model is starting to change. Here's what that means for the program

States will start to pay a larger share of the bill to run the food assistance program, as federal funding for operational costs shrinks.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

More than 5 million people, including about 2 million kids, have already lost SNAP since the reconciliation law was enacted. Even more eligible low-income families will lose SNAP unless Congress meaningfully delays this cost shift for all states. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

cbpp.org

New Data Underscore SNAP Cost Shift’s Harm to Low-Income Families and State Budgets

The harmful Republican reconciliation law enacted last July made unprecedented cuts to food assistance through SNAP, including a provision slashing federal funding for SNAP benefits and imposing...

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Now, states are out of time. The window to minimize these costs by reducing errors has closed. If a state can't fully cover the required costs by raising taxes or cutting elsewhere in its budget, it will be forced to further restrict access to SNAP or end the program entirely.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

As states rushed to avoid these costs, some have made it much harder for eligible families to access SNAP. That means families are losing benefits even though they still qualify – they just can’t get through new bureaucratic hurdles. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/u...

Many of the 440,000 Arizonans dropped from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — food stamps — remain eligible for help. But the new law establishes steep penalties on states that make too many mistakes when awarding benefits. To avoid those costs, which are so large that state officials say they could end the program, Arizona increased the paperwork that applicants must file, even as it cut the staff to review it.

The result, aid-seekers and officials both say, has been bureaucratic chaos.

It can take months to reach besieged caseworkers, and offices have gone as far as asking people with panhandling income for verification from strangers dropping cash in their jar. Arizonans losing SNAP say they are skipping meals, quarreling over food, and missing rent payments to restock pantry shelves. For the first time, monthly visits to the state’s food banks — private charities — have exceeded enrollment in SNAP, the government’s main nutrition safety net.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is already causing eligible families to lose SNAP. The amount a state will need to pay is determined by its error rate, the extent to which the state mistakenly over or underpaid SNAP households. But delaying or denying SNAP to an eligible family doesn't count as an "error."

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Today, we're also one year away from an even larger SNAP cut taking effect. Starting October 1, 2027, most states will be required to pay a portion of SNAP benefit costs for the first time. These costs are so great that they could drive some states to end SNAP altogether.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Some states didn't increase state funding to make up for this federal funding cut, which could lead to staff shortages, backlogs & low-income families waiting months for help. Other states & counties are weighing property tax increases or cuts to other services to fill the gap.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

SNAP update: Another cut from the Republican reconciliation law takes effect today, cutting the federal match for SNAP administrative costs from 50% to 25%. Every state now gets half as many federal dollars to ensure SNAP gets to eligible families on time & in the right amount.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Congress directed USDA to issue regulations to strengthen the security of EBT cards, but the Trump administration pushed back the expected timeline from March 2025 to January 2026, then to "by September 30, 2026." (They did not issue those regulations by September 30, 2026.)

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Starting October 1, the Republican reconciliation law slashes federal $ for SNAP administration, leaving states & counties with huge gaps to fill: "We understand the implications of property tax increases—we’re trying to keep them low without cutting services and that is becoming nearly impossible."

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Unless Congress intervenes, the number of families & kids losing SNAP will only continue to grow. Congress must urgently address this unfolding hunger crisis by meaningfully delaying this cost shift for all states.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Why? The 2025 Republican reconciliation law created a system where states face enormous costs if they over or underpay SNAP households — but not if they delay or deny benefits to eligible low-income families who need SNAP to afford groceries.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Too many people – including families with children – are losing SNAP despite still being eligible. They're losing SNAP when they can’t navigate the new red tape. They're stuck in backlogs because understaffed states can't keep up with the added paperwork. www.dallasnews.com/news/article...

Graphic showing Texas's SNAP application backlog growing from 3,721 applications in January 2026 to 150,069 applications in August 2026.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This updated nationwide estimate is based on available data from 28 states on the # of kids receiving SNAP. In just those 28 states: 📉 1.5 million fewer kids are receiving SNAP 👩‍👦Children make up close to half of the people who have lost their SNAP benefits since these cuts were enacted in July 2025

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

🚨New: With data added from more states, we now estimate that about 2 million fewer kids are receiving SNAP in the wake of deep cuts enacted in last year’s Republican reconciliation law. Overall, more than 5 million people have lost SNAP since July 2025. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

cbpp.org

SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance as the Harmful 2025 Republican Reconciliation Law Is Implemented

SNAP participation nationwide fell by roughly 5 million people (12 percent) between the law’s July 2025 enactment and May 2026, based on the latest month of data.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Incredible things are happening in the SNAP policy analyst group chats today

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Reposted by Katie Bergh

KOSU @kosuradio.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

As changes to federal food assistance unravel, grocery prices are climbing. KOSU’s Anna Pope visited Oklahoma food banks to hear from people firsthand. "At this point, I can only take it day by day... And I just take everything as a blessing."

kosu.org

Oklahoma SNAP enrollment has dropped 20%. Here's what it sounds like in local food banks

As changes to federal food assistance unravel, grocery prices are climbing. KOSU’s Anna Pope visited a couple of food banks to hear from people first hand.

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Reposted by Katie Bergh

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities @centeronbudget.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

People in rural communities are being hit hard by cuts to SNAP and health coverage, higher costs from tariffs, and other policies adopted by the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans. @gbenga-ajilore.bsky.social breaks down the impact: www.cbpp.org/research/eco...

cbpp.org

Trump, Congressional Republican Agenda Has Harmed Rural Communities

Policies adopted by the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress have adversely impacted individuals and families living in rural communities.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is consistent with what we've seen elsewhere: overall, children make up close to half of the people who have lost SNAP in the 25 states with available data.

Records show that compared with July 2025, nearly 33,000 fewer people in Nebraska received public food assistance this July, a nearly 22% dip over the year. Eric Savaiano, the nonprofit Appeseed’s manager for food and nutrition access, said about half of that loss represents Nebraska youth and teens under age 19, with 13% of the total annual loss being infants and children under 5.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

P.S. Thanks to last year's reconciliation law, the federal match for SNAP administrative costs gets cut in half — from 50% to 25% — starting October 1, 2026. States are about to have far fewer federal $ to ensure SNAP gets to eligible families on time & in the right amount.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Food insecurity didn't go away just because they stopped collecting the data. (Our chart will not be going away, either.)

Chart showing the prevalence of food insecurity among all households and households with children over time, with no data shown for 2025. Title: Food Insecurity Data Not Released for 2025; USDA Canceled Data Collection After 2025 Republican Reconciliation Law's Historic SNAP Cuts
Subtitle: USDA canceled the nation's longest running and most consistent measure of food insecurity, taking away a crucial measure to track the mounting impacts of the harmful 2025 Republican reconciliation law

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

States are starting to prepare their next budgets & most will need to include funding for a percentage of SNAP benefit costs for the first time. States that are unwilling or unable to cover these huge new costs will need to withdraw from SNAP altogether. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

cbpp.org

New Data Underscore SNAP Cost Shift’s Harm to Low-Income Families and State Budgets

The harmful Republican reconciliation law enacted last July made unprecedented cuts to food assistance through SNAP, including a provision slashing federal funding for SNAP benefits and imposing...

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

SNAP backlogs are growing in multiple states, leaving families waiting months without benefits. States are scrambling to reduce the huge costs they now face based on their SNAP error rate, but delaying SNAP to an eligible family doesn’t count as an error. www.dallasnews.com/news/article...

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

New data show that roughly 5 million people lost SNAP in the 10 months after the Republican reconciliation law enacted the deepest SNAP cuts in history, dropping SNAP enrollment to its lowest level in 17 years. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

cbpp.org

SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance as the Harmful 2025 Republican Reconciliation Law Is Implemented

SNAP participation nationwide fell by roughly 5 million people (12 percent) between the law’s July 2025 enactment and May 2026, based on the latest month of data.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Tomorrow, the Senate Ag Committee will reconvene for another vote on Chair Boozman’s farm bill proposal, which fails to adequately address the growing hunger crisis as millions of people lose SNAP. While the bill text is the same, here's what's changed over the last few weeks.🧵

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Usually, we'd also be getting new data on the prevalence of food insecurity around this time. But the Trump administration abruptly terminated the government's 30-year annual food insecurity report shortly after the President signed the deepest SNAP cuts in history into law.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Denying SNAP to people with a drug-related felony conviction adds barriers to successful reentry & worsens hardship. But bipartisan efforts to end this policy in North Carolina stalled in part because of federal cuts that will shift huge new SNAP costs to state & county budgets:

Despite having bipartisan sponsorship, neither bill advanced out of committee.

“The singular obstacle, really, that I heard was timing,” Callahan said. She said some lawmakers had concerns about adding this additional group to the SNAP rolls at a time when the program is undergoing other changes and states and counties are being asked to shoulder more of its costs.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Between October 2024 & March 2026, Arizona denied more than half of the households applying or recertifying for SNAP for failing to complete the required interview. But it wasn't for lack of trying: during that period, more than 3 million calls to the state's overwhelmed call center were dropped.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

One reason low-income Texans are waiting in backlogs or losing SNAP altogether: under the reconciliation law, states face massive new costs if they over or underpay SNAP households — but not if they delay or outright deny benefits to eligible families.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

There's a theme, folks: "DCF said the reason the department has fallen so far behind is because of new state and federal laws and because of short staffing."

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Reposted by Katie Bergh

Shelby Gonzales @shelbytgonzales.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Thirty years ago, as a single mother struggling to make ends meet, I watched with fear as Congress debated and passed PRWORA. The law created new barriers to benefits & red tape I had to navigate while trying to finish college and support myself and my baby.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

As states scramble to avoid the massive costs they now face under the Republican reconciliation law, many are making it much harder for eligible people to get SNAP. It took 4 months & a press inquiry for Florida to approve SNAP benefits for this 64-year-old with stage 4 cancer.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

SNAP is linked to better math & reading scores, fewer school days missed due to illness & other positive outcomes for children. But well over 1.5 million kids nationwide have lost access to SNAP after unprecedented cuts were enacted last year.

cbpp.org

With School Year Starting, Children’s Participation in SNAP Continues Rapid Decline

While cutting SNAP eligibility for children was not a stated target of the Republican reconciliation law’s proponents, the cost shift and resulting access barriers are causing serious food assistance ...

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

“We’re talking about additional costs that don’t support additional programs. The public doesn’t get new roads. They don’t get more public safety or education or public health. In fact, because of this new mandate, they may get less of those things."

wwnytv.com

SNAP funding shift to cost North Country counties millions

Federal changes to SNAP benefits will hit counties in one month. Here's what that means for Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Last year, 27.6 million kids attended a school that provided free meals to all students thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision. But SNAP cuts may force schools to drop CEP — which would worsen access to school meals & increase costs for families.

Now, Bronner's district is due to reapply for the provision next year. She says she's worried whether her district can afford to keep offering universal free meals.

"Due to the dramatic decline in SNAP assistance, the percentage of eligible families [is] not high enough for us to be able to financially sustain operating this provision," she says. "So we would actually lose money if we were to continue to operate CEP."

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Congressional Republicans claimed these cuts were about "incentivizing a more efficient & effective SNAP program." What's "efficient" or "effective" about making struggling families wait in backlogs without the help they need to afford groceries?

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The deep SNAP cuts enacted last year have harmful ripple effects for low-income families & the broader community. Kids losing SNAP also lose automatic enrollment for free meals at school. As more kids lose SNAP, schools may be forced to drop Community Eligibility & end free meals for all students.

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Katie Bergh @katiebergh.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Texas' SNAP application backlog grew from 3,700 in January to more than 150,000 in August as the state implemented major changes in response to the Republican reconciliation law's unprecedented SNAP cuts.

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