More than 276,000 Kentucky households received SNAP benefits in April, according to the latest state data. The changes, with an estimated $230 billion in cuts, could cost Kentucky nearly double what it spends on public preschool statewide.
Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said the state will be forced to absorb the difference.
"What they're discussing could be asking Kentucky to pay 15% or more of the cost," Pugel explained. "Which could be, if you're doing the math, anywhere between 160 or more million dollars."
Proponents of the SNAP cuts said the program is bloated and will save the federal government $300 billion over the next decade. The Food Research and Advocacy Center argued the cuts undermine the foundation of SNAP as a reliable safety net and leave families vulnerable to hunger and hardship, at a time of increased food prices.
Patience Martin, state tax and budget policy fellow at the center, explained lawmakers are also considering a tax proposal with sweeping cuts at the expense of programs such as SNAP and would make permanent recent changes to the income bracket, which resulted in the richest 20% of Kentuckians receiving around double the share of tax cuts than what the bottom 80% of the state's earners received combined.
"It would also exclude about 323,000 Kentucky children from receiving full, or any benefit at all, of the temporarily increased Child Tax Credit," Martin noted.
In addition to helping people put food on the table, SNAP participation has been linked to improve health and lower health care costs for states, and boosts local economies. SNAP drove nearly $1.3 billion in spending at more than 4,700 Kentucky food retailers last year, according to data from the center.
