November 1 SNAP Cuts Will Affect Millions of Children, Seniors, and People With Disabilities

The 2009 Recovery Act’s temporary boost in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits ends on November 1, 2013, which will mean a benefit cut for nearly all of the nearly 48 million SNAP recipients — 87 percent of whom live in households with children, seniors, or people with disabilities.^[1]  House and Senate members who are now beginning to negotiate a final Farm Bill should keep this benefit cut in mind as they consider, in reauthorizing the SNAP program, whether to make even deeper cuts.

The November 1 benefit cut will be substantial.  A household of three, such as a mother with two children, will lose $29 a month — a total of $319 for November 2013 through September 2014, the remaining 11 months of fiscal year 2014.  (See Figure 1.)  The cut is equivalent to about 16 meals a month for a family of three based on the cost of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s “Thrifty Food Plan.”  Without the Recovery Act’s boost, SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2014 will average less than $1.40 per person per meal.  Nationally, the cut totals about $5 billion in 2014 and a total of $11 billion over the fiscal year 2014 to 2016 period.^[2]  (See Table 1.)

The SNAP benefit cut will make it even harder for families to put food on the table.  More than 80 percent of SNAP households have monthly income below the federal poverty line ($19,500 a year for a family of three), and more than 40 percent live in deep poverty, with income below half of the poverty line.  The Recovery Act’s temporary benefit increase boosted the ability of households to provide adequate food for their families, known as “food security,” research shows.

The benefit cut will affect almost all households that receive SNAP, the majority of which include children, seniors, or people with disabilities.  Nationally, more than 21 million children — that is, more than 1 in 4 of all children — live in a household that receives SNAP.  At least a quarter of children receive SNAP benefits in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia; in some states, this figure is more than 40 percent.  November’s SNAP cut for households with children will total $3.5 billion in the remaining 11 months of fiscal year 2014.  Similarly, more than 9 million seniors and people with disabilities receive SNAP.  Their households will experience a $1.2 billion benefit cut over the same period.  Table 2, below, shows the number of children and senior citizens or people with disabilities in each state who live in such households. 

In addition, the November benefit cut will reduce, by millions of dollars in every state but Hawaii, the flow of money that not only would help families afford to eat, but also would inject money into the economy.  Studies show that in a distressed economy, every dollar of SNAP benefits creates at least about $1.70 in economic activity, as SNAP recipients spend their benefits on food quickly.  For example, California and Texas will each lose over $400 million in SNAP benefits that would have helped their residents eat in 2014; the potential economic impact is even greater. 

The depth and breadth of the SNAP cuts that take effect in November are unprecedented.  Past cuts have affected specific states or groups, but they have not affected all participants nor been as large as these cuts.

They are taking effect the same week that the House and Senate Agriculture Committees begin their conference committee negotiations on the Farm Bill, which includes a reauthorization of and proposed cuts to SNAP.  The House version of the bill would cut SNAP by nearly $40 billion over the next 10 years, denying benefits to about 3.8 million people in 2014 and an average of 3 million people each year over the coming decade.  

 

Table 1 The SNAP ARRA Termination: Estimated State-by-State Impact in Fiscal Year 2014
	Total SNAP Benefit Cut to State (in millions of dollars, from November 2013 through September 2014)	Number of SNAP Recipients in FY 2014 (all of whom are impacted by the cut)
		Total	Share of Total State Population
Alabama	-$98	910,000	19%
Alaska	-$12	95,000	13%
Arizona	-$109	1,101,000	17%
Arkansas	-$52	501,000	17%
California	-$457	4,168,000	11%
Colorado	-$55	511,000	10%
Connecticut	-$44	424,000	12%
Delaware	-$16	154,000	17%
District of Columbia	-$15	144,000	22%
Florida	-$379	3,552,000	18%
Georgia	-$210	1,947,000	19%
Hawaii*	$0	N/A	N/A
Idaho	-$24	230,000	14%
Illinois	-$220	2,031,000	16%
Indiana	-$98	925,000	14%
Iowa	-$43	421,000	13%
Kansas	-$33	317,000	11%
Kentucky	-$94	875,000	20%
Louisiana	-$98	920,000	20%
Maine	-$26	251,000	19%
Maryland	-$82	774,000	13%
Massachusetts	-$95	889,000	13%
Michigan	-$183	1,775,000	18%
Minnesota	-$55	556,000	10%
Mississippi	-$70	664,000	22%
Missouri	-$96	933,000	15%
Montana	-$13	131,000	13%
Nebraska	-$18	180,000	10%
Nevada	-$37	359,000	13%
New Hampshire	-$12	117,000	9%
New Jersey	-$90	873,000	10%
New Mexico	-$47	442,000	21%
New York	-$332	3,185,000	16%
North Carolina	-$166	1,708,000	17%
North Dakota	-$6	57,000	8%
Ohio	-$193	1,847,000	16%
Oklahoma	-$66	615,000	16%
Oregon	-$84	819,000	21%
Pennsylvania	-$183	1,779,000	14%
Rhode Island	-$20	181,000	17%
South Carolina	-$93	875,000	18%
South Dakota	-$11	104,000	12%
Tennessee	-$141	1,345,000	20%
Texas	-$411	3,997,000	15%
Utah	-$26	253,000	9%
Vermont	-$10	101,000	16%
Virginia	-$99	941,000	11%
Washington	-$114	1,113,000	16%
West Virginia	-$36	350,000	19%
Wisconsin	-$89	861,000	15%
Wyoming	-$4	39,000	7%
Guam	-$7	45,000	N/A
Virgin Islands	-$4	27,000	N/A
Puerto Rico Block Grant	$0	N/A	N/A
Total	-$5,000	47,410,000	15%
Source: CBPP estimates based on USDA’s June 2013 Thrifty Food Plan, CBO May 2013 baseline, 2011 USDA data on SNAP Household Characteristics, recent USDA administrative data on the number of SNAP participants, and U.S. Census Bureau data on state populations. Notes: The number of SNAP recipients shown is for a typical, or average month in fiscal year 2014.  In addition to the cuts shown in this table, an additional $6 billion in cuts are expected to occur in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 under CBO’s May 2013 food inflation projections. * We updated this table on January 9, 2014 to accurately reflect the fact that due to higher food inflation in Hawaii, SNAP benefit levels already exceeded the levels set by the Recovery Act in Hawaii, and SNAP participants there did not experience a cut in November.  Earlier versions of this paper incorrectly showed that SNAP households in Hawaii would experience a cut.  We have not adjusted the national total to reflect this change because the total still rounds to $5 billion.

 

 

Table 2 Estimated State-By-State Impact of the SNAP ARRA Repeal On Subpopulations
	Number of Children Affected in FY 2014	Households With Children Affected in FY 2014	Benefit Loss to Households With Children (in millions of dollars, November 2013-September 2014)	Number of Elderly or People With Disabilities Affected in FY 2014	Households With Elderly or People with Disabilities Affected in FY 2014	Benefit Loss to Households With Elderly or People With Disabilities (in millions of dollars, November 2013-September 2014)
Alabama	423,000	214,000	-$71	157,000	144,000	-$23
Alaska	42,000	18,000	-$9	13,000	11,000	-$2
Arizona	538,000	251,000	-$84	147,000	134,000	-$18
Arkansas	232,000	117,000	-$37	91,000	86,000	-$12
California	2,285,000	1,171,000	-$373	154,000	123,000	-$17
Colorado	250,000	117,000	-$41	73,000	69,000	-$10
Connecticut	149,000	77,000	-$24	102,000	94,000	-$15
Delaware	68,000	34,000	-$11	23,000	21,000	-$3
District of Columbia	55,000	28,000	-$9	30,000	27,000	-$4
Florida	1,303,000	668,000	-$215	713,000	666,000	-$92
Georgia	892,000	441,000	-$152	295,000	260,000	-$36
Hawaii*	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Idaho	117,000	55,000	-$19	35,000	32,000	-$5
Illinois	886,000	425,000	-$145	349,000	322,000	-$47
Indiana	436,000	212,000	-$74	164,000	153,000	-$22
Iowa	174,000	87,000	-$27	69,000	60,000	-$8
Kansas	148,000	72,000	-$23	51,000	50,000	-$6
Kentucky	343,000	177,000	-$59	207,000	189,000	-$28
Louisiana	436,000	209,000	-$71	174,000	162,000	-$24
Maine	94,000	52,000	-$15	67,000	60,000	-$9
Maryland	301,000	154,000	-$46	147,000	128,000	-$17
Massachusetts	334,000	184,000	-$50	283,000	253,000	-$36
Michigan	769,000	394,000	-$131	461,000	409,000	-$67
Minnesota	239,000	112,000	-$33	114,000	104,000	-$10
Mississippi	307,000	148,000	-$49	119,000	112,000	-$15
Missouri	449,000	218,000	-$71	188,000	175,000	-$22
Montana	55,000	29,000	-$9	24,000	21,000	-$3
Nebraska	89,000	41,000	-$14	35,000	32,000	-$4
Nevada	167,000	77,000	-$24	63,000	59,000	-$7
New Hampshire	49,000	26,000	-$7	33,000	28,000	-$4
New Jersey	364,000	184,000	-$56	195,000	167,000	-$24
New Mexico	217,000	106,000	-$34	62,000	56,000	-$8
New York	1,211,000	649,000	-$207	1,064,000	944,000	-$163
North Carolina	758,000	389,000	-$118	285,000	246,000	-$31
North Dakota	29,000	15,000	-$5	13,000	12,000	-$2
Ohio	792,000	402,000	-$142	412,000	378,000	-$57
Oklahoma	294,000	145,000	-$49	116,000	106,000	-$13
Oregon	304,000	164,000	-$45	159,000	138,000	-$16
Pennsylvania	766,000	366,000	-$120	494,000	440,000	-$68
Rhode Island	64,000	36,000	-$11	46,000	42,000	-$6
South Carolina	401,000	200,000	-$66	142,000	127,000	-$17
South Dakota	52,000	24,000	-$8	20,000	18,000	-$3
Tennessee	560,000	278,000	-$95	252,000	224,000	-$29
Texas	2,360,000	1,085,000	-$342	672,000	609,000	-$95
Utah	151,000	64,000	-$22	38,000	34,000	-$5
Vermont	34,000	19,000	-$5	28,000	24,000	-$4
Virginia	415,000	211,000	-$68	174,000	160,000	-$18
Washington	456,000	231,000	-$67	234,000	208,000	-$27
West Virginia	141,000	75,000	-$23	98,000	87,000	-$11
Wisconsin	379,000	190,000	-$53	164,000	148,000	-$20
Wyoming	17,000	9,000	-$3	6,000	6,000	-$1
Guam	26,000	10,000	-$6	3,000	2,000	-$1
Virgin Islands	12,000	6,000	-$3	4,000	3,000	-$1
Total	21,430,000	10,667,000	-$3,442	9,061,000	8,166,000	-$1,185
Source: CBPP estimates based on USDA’s June 2013 Thrifty Food Plan, CBO May 2013 baseline, 2011 USDA data on SNAP Household Characteristics, recent USDA administrative data on the number of SNAP participants, and U.S. Census Bureau data on state populations. Notes: The number of SNAP recipients shown is for a typical, or average month in fiscal year 2014.  *This table was updated on January 9, 2014 to reflect the fact that due to higher food inflation in Hawaii, SNAP benefit levels already exceeded the levels set by the Recovery Act in Hawaii, and SNAP participants there did not experience a cut in November.  Earlier versions of this paper incorrectly showed that SNAP households in Hawaii would experience a cut.