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Gov. Josh Stein recently led an effort to send a letter signed by 23 governors to congressional leadership, calling for continued support of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The letter, sent on Tuesday, follows the federal budget bill making its way through Congress, which among other things, includes cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. Earlier this month, Stein sent a letter to U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd laying out the consequences of those cuts for North Carolina families.
SNAP is “one of the most powerful tools states have to address hunger, improve overall health, and help people overcome poverty,” the June 24 letter from the governors says. “In 2024, SNAP provided food benefits to more than 42 million people in the United States, helping to address the needs of more than 13% of households across the country who experienced food insecurity.”
According to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 1.4 million North Carolinians benefit from SNAP as of April 2025.
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In North Carolina, SNAP adds $2.8 billion to the state’s economy, Stein previously said, and supports local farmers, grocers, and the larger food distribution pipeline.
Proposals to shift up to 25% of SNAP food benefit costs to the states would force North Carolina to come up with $700 million annually to make up the difference or cut vital nutrition services, Stein said.
The June 24 letter says the federal bill would force states “into an impossible ultimatum: either come up with new funding to backfill federal cuts or cut off families from essential food assistance.”
“If states are forced to end their SNAP programs, hunger and poverty will increase, children and adults will get sicker, grocery stores in rural areas will struggle to stay open, people in agriculture and the food industry will lose jobs, and state and local economies will suffer,” the letter says.
In addition to the cost increase for states under the federal bill, the letter said the proposed policies would also make budgeting for SNAP unpredictable from year to year, “creat(ing) a significant risk that states have to leave SNAP altogether.”
Currently, the federal government pays 100% of the food benefit costs and 50% of the administrative costs of each state’s SNAP program, with state governments paying the other half. In some states, the letter says, county and tribal governments also contribute. And if states have two consecutive years of high error rates, they must pay financial penalties.
“As Governors, we urge Congress to honor its commitment to the people of the United States of America by rejecting any proposals that would put state SNAP programs at risk,” the letter says. “Cuts to SNAP will mean that millions of Americans won’t get the food they need for their families. And it will result in too many Americans forced to survive rather than thrive.”
You can read the full letter here. And here is how many people in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties benefitted from SNAP as of April 2025:
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