States would reduce or end Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for an estimated 1.3 million people in an average month under a state cost-share requirement included in the House-passed budget reconciliation bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The requirement in the House GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act that states pay at least 5% of the program’s costs would save taxpayers $128 billion over the next 10 years, according to the CBO analysis provided to the top Democrats on the House and Senate Agriculture committees.
“CBO expects that some states would maintain current benefits and eligibility and others would modify benefits or eligibility or possibly leave the program altogether because of the increased costs,” the analysis says.
CBO also projects that “subsidies provided through child nutrition programs would decrease for about 420,000 children in an average month” as a result of the cost-share requirement.
The cost-share requirement, which will face some resistance from Senate Republicans, is one of several provisions in the bill that would cut the projected cost of SNAP by $285.7 billion between 2025 and 2034, CBO says.
Expanded work requirements in the bill would push an estimated 3.2 million people off the program in an average month between now and 2034, saving taxpayers $92 billion over 10 years.
About 42 million people were enrolled in SNAP in February, the latest month for which data is available. The average monthly benefit was $188.74 per person and $353.27 per household.
Under current law, able-bodied adults between ages 18 and 54 are required to work at least 20 hours a week and many states get waivers from the rules on the basis of unemployment rates. The bill would raise the maximum age to 64 and also apply the work requirements to parents of school-age children. States also would be allowed to waive the requirements for counties with unemployment of at least 10%.
Another provision in the reconciliation bill would reduce the average monthly SNAP benefit by $15 below where it would be under current law, by preventing USDA from raising benefits through an update of the Thrifty Food Plan, an economic model that estimates dietary costs.
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The Thrifty Food Plan restriction, which was also included in the farm bill developed by the House Agriculture Committee in 2024, would account for $37 billion in savings over 10 years.
Other provisions include one that would make 120,000 to 250,000 ineligible for the program by prohibiting people who are not citizens or green card holders from getting benefits, CBO says.
Additionally, the bill would reduce benefits for some SNAP participants by restricting the way housing expenses are calculating in determining benefits. Excluding internet expenses from the housing expense deduction would cut benefits by $10 a month for 65% of SNAP households, CBO says. A change to the utility allowance would cut monthly benefits by $100 a month for 3% of households.
Under current law, the cost of SNAP is expected to rise from $109.6 billion this year to $115.8 billion in 2034. Under the House bill, its cost would fall to $76.6 billion in 2034, the report says.
Some of the SNAP savings would be used to offset the cost of increased spending on commodity programs, crop insurance and foreign market promotion.
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