Two children lend a hand their mother collect food from the Sugartree Ministry food bank in Wilmington, Ohio. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services notified 12,988 people on April 30 that their federal nutrition assistance would end because they failed to meet recent requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill was passed last summer by Republicans in Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Endings are coming after 80,000 Ohioans lost their benefits between the July adoption of the act and January this year. The advocacy group said older Ohioans will likely be hit hardest by the latest cuts.
The recent requirements were imposed as part of Trump’s cuts bill federal nutrition and health care benefits by more than $1 trillion over 10 years reducing taxes on the richest 1% of Americans by a similar amount. This too added more than $4 trillion to the federal deficit.
Much of the cut in programs for the destitute is due to recent work requirements.
While similar requirements for Medicaid won’t go into effect until after the November midterm elections, requirements for obtaining Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits went into effect on February 1.
““Under the new law, adults ages 55 to 64 and parents with children ages 14 to 18, as well as veterans, homeless individuals and those leaving foster care are no longer exempt from work requirements,” Tom Betti, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, said in an email.
“These typically require working at least 80 hours per month or pursuing specific education or training opportunities.”
About 1.4 million Ohioans receive benefits through SNAP, which is available to households with incomes below 130% of the federal poverty level.
In Ohio, it’s less than $36,000. The benefits are simply there $6.28 per person per day.
Even before the cuts, benefits were not reaching many eligible residents.
In Ohio in 2023 SNAP benefits went to 95.5% of people living at 100% of the federal poverty level — even though anyone earning 130% or less was eligible.
However, benefit penetration continues to decline in the face of recent requirements that purport to address a problem of questionable existence.
An analysis of census data conducted by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities shows that in 2015 more than half of able-bodied adult SNAP recipients worked in the month they received benefits. However, in 89% of households with children and an able-bodied adult, someone worked in the last two years.
The analysis shows that the situation is not so bad for people who typically work in low-wage jobs that often lack health benefits, ill leave and paid holidays.
Critics say work requirements were imposed not to employ lethargic people, but to achieve savings harassment of eligible people from the system. Real-world experience seems to confirm this.
When Arkansas experimented with Medicaid work requirements in 2018, it didn’t produce the results that program supporters expected. The mandate caused confusion, 18,000 residents lost insurance, and the state’s employment level remained unchanged, Municipal Institute reported last year.
In Ohio, recent losses in food benefits are expected to affect people ages 55 to 64 who were previously exempt from work.
Last week, Policy Matters Ohio reported that half of the 1,350 people in Cuyahoga County who lost benefits were over the age of 55. It’s the only county for which it had data, but Executive Director Hannah Halbert cited several reasons why older beneficiaries are particularly vulnerable.
“These federal changes include requiring Ohioans over the age of 54 to work or qualify for poorly justified, narrow exemptions under criteria that may be difficult to prove,” she said in a written statement.
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