Related videos:
More than three million people stopped receiving benefits from the SNAP food assistance program between July 2025 and January 2026.
It is the sharpest decline in decades according to the analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), equivalent to about 8% of beneficiaries nationwide.
In Florida, the impact is particularly severe: , including seniors, veterans, and individuals with disabilities who are struggling to put food on the table amid prolonged inflation.
The CBPP attributes the reduction directly to the legislative changes of the federal package known as "One Big Beautiful Bill" (H.R. 1), enacted in July 2025, rather than an improvement in economic conditions.
To measure the speed of change: a similar reduction in past decades took several years; now it occurred in just six months.
Unemployment in the United States has remained around 4%, which confirms that the loss of benefits is not due to an overall economic improvement, but rather to changes in the program's rules.
Among the most significant changes in H.R. 1 is the expansion of the work requirements for adults aged 18 to 64 without children under 14 years old—previously, the age limit was 54 years—who must now show employment, training, or 80 hours of community service per month.
The law also eliminated eligibility for refugees, asylees, and individuals with humanitarian protection, restricting benefits primarily to citizens and legal permanent residents.
Furthermore, the legislation requires states to cover up to 15% of the benefit costs and 75% of the administrative costs, which in Florida translates to an additional $1.6 billion in expenses.
The Florida Department of Children and Families initially estimated that 181,000 people would lose access; the actual figure nearly doubled that projection, with approximately 55,000 of those affected being adults aged between 55 and 64.
Florida channels over $7 billion annually in SNAP benefits to nearly 2.9 million recipients, which accounts for 13% of the state’s population. This assistance has a disproportionate impact on families with children (38%), seniors (24%), and households with individuals with disabilities (more than 50%).
The cuts are joined by a federal pilot program approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Starting April 20, this program prohibits SNAP beneficiaries in Florida from purchasing sodas, energy drinks, candies, and ultra-processed desserts, in a two-year initiative that applies to 100% of beneficiaries without an option for exclusion.
Rob Ranieri, executive director of House of Hope, a nonprofit organization in Treasure Coast that assists individuals in vulnerable situations, criticized the restrictions: "Why would we tell a struggling family, 'No, you can't use your food stamps to buy a birthday cake for your child'?"
Ranieri also pointed out that many clients have seen their benefits reduced twice in the last 12 to 14 months, and added: "If this were a health initiative, we would not be cutting their food stamps; we would be increasing them so they can access healthier foods in stores."
The CBPP warns that the decline could continue in the coming months as more provisions of the law come into effect, which could result in an increase in food insecurity among the most vulnerable populations, including the Cuban and Latino community in Florida, which represents a significant portion of SNAP beneficiaries in the state.
Filed under: