Hunger Free Oklahoma opposes shifting SNAP costs to states

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma could have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars if Congress moves forward with plans to shift food stamp costs to states.

For the first time, the U.S. House is considering making states cover part of the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP. States could be required to pay up to a 25% match.

"In current numbers could be as high as $475 million total in cost shifted to the state at a time where, you know, our state does not have that money," said Chris Bernard, CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma.

Bernard believes the state would be forced to make cuts to the program.

"We don't know if that means they would just cut entire categories of people off the program. We don't know if that means they just cut how much benefits are. There's a lot of unknowns, but any of them is disaster. People are struggling with the levels we have of SNAP now," said Bernard.

He says 600,000 families rely on SNAP benefits every year in order to put food on the table and these proposed changes would hurt those families.

"Way more people will be making decisions between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table. You're talking about parents skipping meals or choosing not to take crucial medications for their health to make sure their kids can eat," said Bernard.

Pressure would also be put on charitable organizations like food banks and pantries, which are already having a hard time meeting needs.

"They are being forced to change rules of how often you can visit, they are being forced to maybe limit where they didn't limit before and if you add on top of that, it's a recipe for disaster," said Bernard.

Bernard also adding that these cuts could cost the state more in the long run.

"They lead to worse health outcomes, they lead to the investments we've made in education being completely pointless because hungry kids can't learn," said Bernard.

Hunger Free Oklahoma says it could also have an impact on other areas too.

"School meals because kids who are on SNAP automatically qualify for free or reduced lunch, it will also potentially impact Title I funding and federal dollars that flow to education that way, it will impact Medicaid eligibility," said Bernard.

Hunger Free Oklahoma encourages you to take action and tell those in Congress how you feel.

News 4 reached out to Oklahoma Human Services about the proposed cuts and was sent a statement:

"Oklahoma Human Services is working with our federal partners to learn more about any potential effects on our programs. We will continue to communicate with partners and clients as we learn more."

Oklahoma Human Services