Politics
Federal SNAP Overhaul Would End Automatic Eligibility for Arizona Families Already Hit by Historic Benefit Losses
A new Trump administration proposal would strip automatic SNAP eligibility from families receiving other public aid, potentially cutting benefits for millions nationwide. In Arizona, where more than half of SNAP recipients lost benefits after 2025 work requirements, advocates warn the change could deepen food insecurity for working families.
PHOENIX â A proposed federal rule change would end automatic eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for families who receive other forms of public assistance, potentially removing hundreds of thousands of Arizonans from the food aid program. The proposal, announced by the Trump administration this week, comes as new state data shows Arizona has already seen the steepest SNAP enrollment decline in the nation.
Under current rules, families that qualify for certain other public benefits can be automatically enrolled in SNAP through a process known as broad-based categorical eligibility. The new proposal would eliminate that pathway, requiring all applicants to meet SNAP's income and asset tests separately. Nationally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates one in five SNAP enrollees â roughly 6.3 million people â could lose benefits, and nearly 2 million children could lose access to free school meals. The federal government argues the change would save nearly $45 billion over five years.
In Arizona, the impact could be especially acute. State data shows that more than half of the state's SNAP recipients lost benefits year-over-year following new work requirements enacted by Republicans in July 2025. No other state experienced a larger decline. Advocates say that because so many Arizona families have already been cut from the program, the new proposal may have a smaller additional effect here â but for those still relying on SNAP, the loss would be devastating.
Patricia Martinez, a Phoenix mother and grandmother, said SNAP has been a lifeline for her family as living costs climb.
"It is a great help," Martinez said. "It helps us get our food, so we can use our money elsewhere for utilities, for the rent."
Martinez said her son and daughter-in-law both work, but their combined incomes barely cover the family's expenses. She said free school breakfasts, which could be jeopardized for millions of children under the proposal, make a real difference for her grandchildren.
"They look forward to it, going to school in the morning to get their breakfast," she said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended the proposal, saying it is intended to ensure that only those who truly need assistance receive it.
"If you are going to be part of a program that depends on taxpayer dollars, we have to make sure that you and your family truly need it," Rollins said.
But Dr. Hilary Seligman, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco who studies food access, warned that the consequences would be severe.
"When SNAP benefits get reduced, or when people lose eligibility for SNAP, there's less money for food. It means kids are going hungry. It means people are skipping meals," Seligman said.
Seligman also pushed back on the rationale that the program is riddled with waste. "There is a small bit of waste, fraud and abuse in the SNAP program," she said. "It has been studied very well, and it does exist, and it is very, very small as a percentage of the benefits that are going out."
The proposal must undergo a 30-day public comment period before it can be finalized, and it would not take effect until 2029. The Arizona Department of Economic Security, which administers SNAP in the state, said it is reviewing the policy and could not yet comment on its potential impact.
For families like Martinez's, the uncertainty adds to an already difficult struggle. "My son works, my daughter-in-law both work, and just along with their incomes we're barely making it," she said. "It keeps getting harder to afford to live in Phoenix."