Hawaiʻi families deserve better: How federal cuts to nutrition programs will impact our state

As Congress moves forward with a federal budget proposal expected to pass next month, Americans who rely on food assistance are bracing for cuts as high as $300 billion. With grocery prices still soaring and food insecurity on the rise, this is the worst possible time to shrink our nation's most important anti-hunger program. 

For Hawaiʻi families, the stakes couldn’t be higher. These cuts threaten not just household food budgets, but also the broader support systems that SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) helps power—from school meals to local economies.

What’s in Congress’s Proposal?

Congress is currently considering four major pathways to SNAP cuts, which will have varying degrees of consequence for Hawaiʻi:

1. A required cost-share that will stretch states’ already thin budgets: Historically, SNAP has been fully funded by the federal government. However, a new proposal could completely change that. Under the Senate’s proposed cost-share model, states would be required to cover up to 15 percent of SNAP program costs for the first time. While this is scaled back from the original House proposal—which would have imposed up to a 25 percent share—it would still shift an additional financial burden on the state of Hawaiʻi: up to $109 million starting in 2028, the equivalent of more than 1,600 teacher salaries. 

   This heavy new burden would force states to decide whether to pay up or cut benefits for thousands of users. Beginning in 2027, states would also be forced to pay 75 percent of administrative costs, an increase from the current 50 percent share.

2. Stricter time limits for older adults and families with school-age children: One of the harshest proposals expands work requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs). These requirements already limit access to SNAP by requiring 20 hours of work per week. 

   In Hawaiʻi, these proposed changes would: 

   • Raise the age cutoff for those subjected to work requirements from 55 to 64, impacting some 8,000 individuals; 

   • Change the definition of dependent by limiting it to only children under 10 (previously 18), impacting roughly 14,000 individuals living in these households; and

   • Restrict the state’s ability to request waivers exempting these strict requirements.

   Even before these proposed work requirement expansions, research shows that such requirements do not increase employment. On top of this, administrative barriers—such as proving work hours or submitting extensive documentation—already prevent many eligible users from receiving benefits. 

3. Cuts to food assistance to legal non-citizens: Some congressional Republicans have falsely claimed that proposed cuts target undocumented immigrants. However, the truth is that people without documentation are already ineligible for these benefits. In reality, the cuts would primarily harm refugees, asylum seekers, and others fleeing violence or persecution.

   Fortunately for Hawaiʻi, the cuts will NOT impact the recent reinstatement of SNAP benefits to COFA citizens. However, they could impact hundreds of Hawaiʻi residents who have already gone through a rigorous process to prove they have fled persecution, domestic violence, or been victims of sex and labor trafficking. 

4. Elimination of SNAP-Ed: Another proposed cut would completely eliminate SNAP-Ed, the sole education arm of SNAP. Hawaiʻi receives nearly $1.6 million in annual funding for the program, which supports critical local food access work, including the salaries of regional food access coordinators. Cutting it would gut on-the-ground efforts that build long-term food security across the islands.

SNAP cuts will send a shockwave through other programs

SNAP participation has far-reaching effects beyond the families it directly serves. Cuts to SNAP would also reduce the number of people who can access several other critical nutrition benefits, including:

1. Free school meals: Students in SNAP households are directly certified for free school meals—no application needed. Cutting SNAP puts keiki using this automatic certification at risk of losing meals, or schools losing out on federal reimbursements.

2. Summer feeding sites: SNAP enrollment data is one factor that helps to determine area eligibility for free summer meals. Fewer SNAP recipients could affect the number and location of summer feeding sites around the state.

3. SUN Bucks: SNAP enrollment automatically qualifies families for SUN Bucks (or Summer EBT), which provides $177 per child for families to purchase groceries in the summer when school is out.

4. DA BUX (Double Up Food Bucks): This wildly popular benefit makes local, fresh produce affordable and easily accessible—but only for people with SNAP. Benefit cuts would hurt SNAP users and local farmers at the same time.

Impact on Hawaiʻi’s Economy

In 2024, SNAP brought over $730 million directly to Hawaiʻi’s economy. But the impact doesn’t stop there. SNAP is responsible for 1,692 grocery industry jobs, and drove the growth of another 819 jobs in related industries like transportation, manufacturing, and agriculture. In fact, every SNAP dollar generates up to $1.80 in total economic activity—money that ripples through local grocery stores, farmers markets, delivery services, and more. That adds up to an estimated $1.3 billion in annual economic impact.

The proposed cuts—along with the spillover effects on school meals, summer feeding programs, and local food systems—won’t just hurt families struggling to afford groceries. They’ll also weaken the very businesses and communities that keep Hawaiʻi fed.

Turning Crisis into Opportunity

We may not be able to prevent these federal cuts entirely, but we can be prepared.

Hawaiʻi has already shown strong leadership through the expansion of free school meals and other investments in food security this past session. The legislature has also set aside $250 million to fill funding holes caused by these cuts, which will need to cover not only SNAP, but also cuts to Medicaid, public education, and housing programs. But these investments can only go so far. We must also have a real conversation about progressive revenue options through a reformed tax code that better serves Hawaiʻi’s communities. 

Now is not the time for Hawaiʻi to double down on tax cuts for the wealthy, like those passed in the 2024 legislative session. That said, the state can’t—and shouldn’t—carry the full burden alone. Hawaiʻi’s counties have a role to play as well. From investing in food security infrastructure to supporting local feeding programs and partnering with community organizations, counties can be powerful engines of innovation and support.

SNAP is more than just a public benefit program—it is a powerful economic engine and a targeted investment in the health, dignity and resilience of Hawaiʻi’s people. The challenges ahead are real. But with strong partnerships, clear priorities, and bold leadership at every level of government, we can rise to meet them.