Editor’s note: The following letter was sent by the Coalition on Human Needs to members of the U.S. House of Representatives on April 27, 2026, urging them to reject the House Agriculture Committee’s 2026 Farm Bill due to its harmful impacts on SNAP and other basic needs programs.

April 27, 2026 

Dear Representative: 

On behalf of the Coalition on Human Needs, I strongly urge you to reject the House Agriculture Committee’s 2026 Farm Bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and any legislation that solidifies last year’s historic cuts to SNAP at a time when many are struggling to put food on the table. In addition, this Farm Bill jeopardizes program integrity and access to SNAP for millions by removing vital protections that ensure eligibility determinations are made by merit-based staff, paving the way for private contractors with no USDA oversight. We outline many of our reasons for opposing this package below.  

The Coalition on Human Needs is made up of human service providers, faith groups, policy experts, and civil rights, labor, and other organizations concerned with meeting the needs of people with low incomes. We strongly opposed last year’s budget reconciliation package given the historic $187 billion cuts from SNAP―the largest cut in the nutrition program’s history ―and how that package raised costs and took other assistance from people with low incomes with harsh reductions in Medicaid and the ACA, higher education, the Child Tax Credit, and other human needs programs. We’re already seeing the impacts – from enactment until December, more than 3 million fewer people were receiving food assistance―not because economic conditions improved, but because of harmful policy changes (this report also includes state data). Millions more Americans are at risk of losing SNAP – and millions more will see benefits reduced, making it harder to put food on the table.  

At a time that many in communities across the country are struggling with the high cost of living, SNAP provides many of your constituents including children, seniors, people with disabilities, and others with lower incomes with vital food benefits to purchase groceries from local food retailers. It serves people of all ages, staves off hunger, promotes well-being, and serves children and others in rural areas and beyond. SNAP provides much more than just food assistance: It is a critical support system that promotes economic well-being and better health outcomes. The program plays a vital role in addressing hunger, reducing health care costs, and improving the long-term prospects of households with low incomes, including the one in five beneficiaries who are children. SNAP has been shown to improve student performance and allows families to maintain healthy diets, which in turn leads to long-term positive health outcomes for children and adults alike. 

The Farm Bill before the House does nothing to stop this harm and instead locks in these historic cuts to nutrition assistance at a time when so many are struggling to put food on the table given higher grocery prices. It does nothing to stop new red tape requirements from denying assistance to veterans, people experiencing homelessness, young adults aging out of foster care, and others who need assistance. It does not restore benefits to refugees and other immigrants here legally who were denied SNAP in last year’s bill. It does not address the ripple effect that puts access to school meals at risk; 47 percent of households with children across every state who participated in SNAP in 2024 were automatically eligible to receive free school meals and now millions of children across every state could lose access to those critical school meals because their families will suddenly have to apply separately to receive them. And, it does nothing to address higher state costs despite the call from the bipartisan National Governors Association and others to ensure all states have more time before imposing additional SNAP costs on their budgets. States are facing increased administrative costs in the coming year, and most states will soon be forced to cover a minimum of 5 percent of SNAP benefit costs based on error rates but likely much larger for many more. By forcing most states to pay 5-15 percent of the federal funding for SNAP benefits going to families in the state based on SNAP Payment Error Rates via the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, many states will be forced to make cuts to SNAP or other programs or perhaps even opt out of participating in SNAP completely (an even bigger risk during economic downturns, when states will lose revenues just when more families are at risk of hunger). If SNAP funds are lost to states, the loss of food purchases will be a blow to each state’s economy, making an economic downturn worse. These SNAP cuts have undermined the longstanding bipartisan commitment to address hunger no matter what state hungry people call home. A Farm Bill that does nothing to address these harms must not pass. 

We all know that many are struggling with higher food costs, and addressing the challenges families are facing to meet their basic needs should be Congress’s top priority. Locking in historic SNAP cuts would hurt the broader economy, could lead to a loss of jobs in your state, and harm retailers in every county in your District. Food retailers, including grocery stores and farmers’ markets, depend on SNAP dollars to stay afloat. In areas where food retailers are already struggling, any reduction in SNAP benefits would have a harsh impact on businesses and the local economy. Food banks, pantries, and soup kitchens are reporting high demand for assistance. We all know the cost of food is high. While emergency food programs help, they only provide one meal for every nine meals that SNAP supplies. That’s not good for our society or economy.  

Attacking the SNAP workforce will only compound this harm. States are facing challenges implementing H.R. 1’s substantial changes with changing, delayed, and confusing guidance from USDA. The federal government shutdown and mixed messages from the administration caused even more chaos, making it even tougher for state administrators to make a good faith effort to strengthen the program. Retaining qualified and trained merit-based public employees will be critical for states to deliver on the challenges faced as a result of rapidly shifting federal policies. Privatizing staff can lead to wasteful spending on private contractors whose incentives may lead to removing hungry and eligible people from the program, undermining program integrity. You must reject claims that SNAP and other nutrition programs are not further harmed in this Farm Bill – by outsourcing SNAP eligibility staffing, this Farm Bill makes things worse for hungry families. 

Now more than ever, it’s critical that Congress protect health care, nutrition, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs. We should strengthen support for these programs — not lock in cuts while furthering the harms to SNAP and other programs. It is not too late to change course. We strongly urge you to reject this Farm Bill and urge Leadership along with colleagues to instead protect and strengthen basic needs programs. 

Sincerely yours,

Deborah Weinstein,
Executive Director