Connecticut families receiving at least $25 in SNAP benefits will lose nearly $200 monthly on average if cuts take effect in November as threatened, a bigger hit than families will feel in any other state and only just behind those living in Washington, D.C., according to preliminary estimates from the Urban Institute.
Changes to the program, made under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, take effect Nov. 1. Signed into law in July, the act cuts $168 billion of federal funding for SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, over the next decade.
A recent report from DataHaven found that thousands of Connecticut residents will entirely lose coverage or see major monthly reductions in SNAP benefits.
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Overall, Connecticut residents will receive $11 million to $15 million less in food assistance each month.
In Connecticut, Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport will be hit the hardest, with thousands of SNAP recipients in each city losing at least $25 a month in benefits (both the Urban Institute and DataHaven used this threshold to focus only on families receiving substantial benefits).
Hartford is projected to receive between $1.2 million and $1.6 million less in SNAP benefits each month. New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport could see between $900,000 and $1.2 to $1.3 million less a month.
About 11% of Connecticut residents live below the federal poverty line but account for 41% of all SNAP recipients, according to DataHaven.
Before the new rules, adults without disabilities or without young dependents had to either work 80 hours a month or meet an exemption in order to receive SNAP benefits. The bill expands work requirements and removes numerous exemptions including ones for veterans, people aged 55 to 64, young adults 18 to 25 who aged out of foster care, homeless people and parents of children 14 to 17.
Additionally, noncitizen lawful immigrant groups such as asylum seekers and refugees will no longer qualify for SNAP benefits.
According to the Urban Institute, evidence shows that work requirements decrease SNAP benefits but don’t increase work or wages.
“People in every corner of our state are being crushed by the cost of living, and as this data shows, federal SNAP changes are only going to make that worse,” Meghan Holden, the director of marketing and communications for The Connecticut Project Action Fund said in an Oct. 20 DataHaven media advisory. “Right now, 58,000 Connecticut households are at risk of losing an average of $194 per month in SNAP benefits. That money is the difference between a child going to bed with an empty belly or full, between a veteran eating one meal a day or three, between hunger and survival.”
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Changes to the program also include stricter cost-of-living adjustments to the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines the cost of a nutritious and balanced meal. The plan serves as the basis for the maximum amount of money put into SNAP, but under the changes, reevaluation for the costs of a meal will be less frequent and cost-neutral, or will only take into account inflation.
Historically, SNAP benefits have not fully covered a “modestly-priced meal” as determined by the TFP, according to data from the Urban Institute. The DataHaven report found that major cost disparities exist between modestly-priced meals and the maximum SNAP benefits currently distributed in Connecticut, especially in the Western Connecticut Planning Region.
If the federal shutdown continues into next month, SNAP benefits will not be sent out.