Politics
Trump SNAP Rule Would Strip Food Aid From 6.3 Million and Free School Lunches From 1.8 Million Children
A proposed USDA rule narrowing automatic SNAP eligibility would cut benefits for roughly 6.3 million people and end free school lunch access for an estimated 1.8 million children, with Louisville food pantries already bracing for a surge in demand.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. â A proposed federal rule narrowing who can automatically receive food assistance would strip Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from an estimated 6.3 million people and end free school lunch eligibility for about 1.8 million children, according to federal estimates and anti-hunger analysts, a change that Louisville food pantry operators say would deepen need in a city already seeing record demand.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal, published for public comment, targets a policy known as "broad-based categorical eligibility," which lets states extend SNAP eligibility to low-income households that receive services through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Under the change, only households receiving cash assistance through TANF would automatically qualify. Families receiving noncash or nominal TANF services â such as child care help or workforce training â would no longer be automatically eligible.
The rule would cut off SNAP benefits for households with gross incomes of about $35,500 a year for a family of three, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Nearly 18% of current SNAP recipients would lose benefits under the change.
Administration officials say the change would standardize eligibility and "preserve benefits for the truly needy," and estimate it would save $44.6 billion between 2027 and 2031. The proposal is the latest in a series of administration efforts to curb SNAP spending, which officials have framed as a response to waste and fraud.
The administration advanced a similar proposal in 2019, but the Biden administration withdrew it in 2021.
In west Louisville, the Sister Visitor Center food pantry is already straining to keep up. Manager Laura Williams said the pantry distributed $92,000 worth of food to clients in October alone, and has seen a 77% increase in weekly visitors over the past few months. She expects demand to climb further if the rule is finalized.
"For the month of October we gave to our clients $92,000 worth of food," Williams said. "So, that is huge. The need is here, and we're here to meet those needs for those people."
The pantry, run by Catholic Charities of Louisville, serves people from as far away as Elizabethtown, Williams said, because "everyone is welcome." She pushed back on assumptions about who relies on food assistance.
"No one knows what's going on inside another person's household," Williams said. "Someone could drive up in a very nice vehicle, but they may have just lost their job."
Williams said the children who would lose school lunch eligibility are among the most vulnerable.
"These children depend on that school lunch," she said. "They depend on that extra stuff that they can be sent home from school because a lot of times, all that's in these people's household is enough to prepare a meal, but there's nothing extra."
She fears the change could mean more children going to bed hungry, and called on the community to support pantries across Kentucky and Indiana if the proposal takes effect.
"Food banks all throughout the US and especially here in Louisville are going to increase in the need," Williams said. "So we need the donation to continue to come in."
The public has until Dec. 10 to submit comments on the proposed rule.