The Keep Kupuna Fed Act would exempt Title II income, or Social Security benefits, from counting against benefits under SNAP, which provides low-income households with financial assistance to purchase food.

SNAP recipients must earn below certain income thresholds to qualify for the program’s benefits, but meeting those requirements has recently become a more difficult task for low-income seniors with Social Security benefits.

An estimated 5-10 percent of the 300,000 people 60 years and older who live in Hawaiʻi are food insecure, according to a report by Hawaiʻi Appleseed, and more than 1 in 5 Hawaiʻi residents receives Social Security benefits, according to a 2022 report by AARP.

Awareness is currently an issue, as only 50 percent of seniors eligible for SNAP are enrolled in the program, Hawaiʻi Appleseed said in its report.