Louisiana SNAP Enrollment Plunges 21% After Federal Rule Changes, About 170,000 Lose Food Aid
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Enrollment in the federal food assistance program has fallen sharply in Louisiana since President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, with about 170,000 fewer people — 21% of the state's enrollees — receiving benefits in June 2026 than when the law took effect, according to federal data analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Nationally, an estimated 5 million fewer people, or 13%, were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps) in June 2026 than in July 2025. Louisiana's 21% decline was among the steepest in the nation.
"We haven't seen a decline of this magnitude in about three decades," said Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research on food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which conducted the analysis.
The drop comes as food prices rose nearly 3% from August 2025 to August 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — meaning families are losing help just as groceries get more expensive.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act expanded work requirements for SNAP, made it harder for states to waive those requirements, and revoked access for many noncitizens with legal status. It also shifted costs to states: starting October 1, 2026, states must pay 75% of the cost of administering SNAP, up from the previous 50-50 split with the federal government. Beginning in October 2027, states with high payment error rates may also have to cover part of the benefit costs themselves.
Louisiana's payment error rate rose from 6.62% in fiscal year 2024 to 8.14% in fiscal year 2025, and the state could have to cover up to $199 million in benefit costs, according to an analysis by the Food Research & Action Center. To drive error rates down, Louisiana and other states have been requiring applicants to submit more documentation, more often.
"It's been a race to drive down those error rates," Llobrera said. He warned that the paperwork burden on applicants and short-staffed agencies can lead to more errors — and more eligible people losing benefits.
In Louisiana, state data shows 75% of people who lost SNAP between July 2025 and June 2026 lost it for procedural reasons — missed forms, missed interviews, or failure to recertify — not because they were found ineligible.
"Families are still hungry, and they're actually eligible for the program," said Tia Fields, safety net policy analyst for the nonpartisan Invest in Louisiana think tank. "This is a tax bill that we really cannot afford."
Aaranika Macon of Louisiana received SNAP for more than three years while attending nursing school. After she took a healthcare job, she lost eligibility; when the job hurt her grades she quit to focus on school and reapplied in February — but benefits didn't arrive until April. When they did, only her 11-year-old son was approved: $298 a month for the two of them, down from roughly $500. "I'm in the same position as before the job. So, why is it cut?" she said. "You've got to fight to communicate with them."
Food banks report steadily rising need. Feeding America documented a 14% increase in food insecurity in Louisiana from 2022 to 2024, even before the new restrictions. "What we're seeing is actually that more of our neighbors are coming to the food pantries longer than they used to before," said Lindsay Hendrix, chief impact officer for Second Harvest Food Bank in southern Louisiana, "and the frequency of their visits have increased."
Hendrix noted that last year's federal government shutdown — which halted SNAP distributions — showed food banks cannot replace the program. "Every politician was like, 'Oh, just go to your food bank,'" she said. "And all of us working in food banks just around the country were like, 'We will run out of food.'" Louisiana was among states that distributed benefits itself during the shutdown until the federal government reopened.
Elected officials, policy analysts, and anti-hunger advocates are now pressing Congress to delay the law's cost-shift provisions in the Farm Bill pending in the Senate. In September, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced a Farm Bill giving states one more year — pushing the benefit cost shift to 2028 — but Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and other Democrats want a two-year delay. Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) said in September he expects negotiations to continue in October, aiming for a bill that can pass both chambers by year's end. Anti-hunger advocates warn a one-year delay isn't enough: a spring survey by the American Public Human Services Association found four states said they might withdraw from or pause SNAP entirely if forced to pay for benefits.
Louisiana officials are unlikely to drop the program, advocates say — but they want more time. "We just have to work out the kinks," Fields said. "That's why we're asking for that cost shift delay, so that the agency can have the opportunity to get it right and to keep the families fed here in Louisiana."
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: CC0（Wikimedia Commons，Alabama Extension）
