More than 200 U.S. mayors are calling on the federal government to reverse changes that will cost states billions and push millions of people off the nation’s food stamp program. (Photo: Steph Quinn/Missouri Independent)
More than 200 U.S. mayors are calling on the federal government to reverse changes that will cost states billions and push millions of people off the food stamp program.
This week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors asked the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee to reconsider deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) made in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In addition to imposing fresh eligibility and work requirements on beneficiaries, the law will require states to self-fund some SNAP benefits for the first time starting in fall 2027.
210 mayors who signed the letter to Senate leaders, he said they are on the “front lines of a deepening food security crisis” and said the federal government should be expanding access to food, not creating fresh obstacles.
The letter was signed by the Democratic and Republican mayors of leading major cities such as Baltimore, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and St. Louis, as well as smaller communities including Lima, Ohio; Manhattan, Kansas; and Muskegon, Michigan. The United States Conference of Mayors is a nonpartisan organization representing more than 1,400 leaders in cities with populations of 30,000 or more.
“When we talk about how to keep our residents fed, it worries Republican mayors, it worries Democratic mayors, it worries independent mayors. It worries everyone,” Matt Tuerk, the Democratic mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, told Stateline.
Tuerk, who heads the national organization’s Standing Committee on Children, Health and Human Services, said his constituents already struggle with high costs of housing, utilities and groceries.
“Now they are concerned about whether they will be able to even pay for the groceries they need without SNAP benefits,” he said.
Already over 4 million Americans lost SNAP benefits, putting more pressure on food banks and food pantries across the country.
Federal officials have argued that changes are needed to root out fraud and waste in the food stamp program.
Tuerk said philanthropic groups don’t have the resources to serve as a national safety net, and cities and states are already struggling with tight budgets that can’t fill the void left by federal cuts.
“And there is no suitable food substitute,” he added. “And I can say this as a kid who had a free lunch card… Without food stamps, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
The mayors are also asking Congress to delay implementation of the fresh requirements, which some experts say could cost states money over $9 billion.
The fresh law will penalize states based on their rate of payment errors – a technical federal calculation for SNAP overpayments and underpayments, not fraud. States with payment error rates above 6% will have to fund between 5% and 15% of their benefit payments. Previously, the feds provided assistance.
Last month, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement that the fresh error rate data was “further evidence of a serious lack of state accountability” in the SNAP program.
However, a group of mayors said states need more time to improve error rates and boost budgets for additional costs.
“Rising costs of living, stagnant wages and reduced federal support are converging to create conditions that city governments must address on their own,” the mayors’ letter said.
Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at: khardy@stateline.org.
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