Nov 20, 2024 Current Resources

States Eyeball Increasing Minimum SNAP Benefits

SNAP benefits help people avoid food insecurity by providing an amount of money that can only be spent on food.

There is both a minimum and a maximum amount. The maximum amount is determined by the local cost of living. The minimum amount, however, has not been changed in some time. It’s $23 a month for most one- or two-person households. This amount is higher in Alaska and Hawaii.

This minimum amount is given to people who meet the income requirements, but is far from enough to help significantly. Some states, thus, are looking at increasing the minimum, even if they are using their own funds to do so.

Which States Have Already Increased the Minimum?

New Jersey was the first state to increase the minimum, upping it to $95. Maryland has also implemented an increase, but only to $40 and only for individuals 62 and older.

Most states, however, have not yet increased above the federal minimum. Some are taking other approaches, such as encouraging mothers to sign up for WIC. But many are considering laws to increase it, although often to amounts that are still insufficient.

Why Are States Looking to Increase the Minimum Amount?

During the pandemic, the Federal government increased SNAP amounts to allow for increases in the cost of food caused by supply chain interruptions. While most of these interruptions are resolved, the price of food as not, in many cases, come down. The most dramatic increase is in the price of eggs. Egg prices have received a double whammy…the supply chain snarls and labor shortages combined with a major outbreak of avian flu that killed a lot of layers and breeding hens, resulting in an egg shortage. In California, for example, the price of a dozen large eggs has gone up from $2.35 to $7.37 in only a year.

Eggs might be the most dramatic, but food prices overall have increased by about 10%, including the staples that low-income families most rely on (eggs being, of course, one of them).

Some families saw their benefits slashed by as much as $150 a month when the temporary emergency assistance ran out, resulting in a “hunger cliff” that families had no way to prepare for.

Which States Are Taking Action?

One state taking action is New York. Central New York has the highest percentage of SNAP participation per capita in the country, and those families were particularly hard hit by the end of emergency benefits. The state is now proposing to increase the minimum to $100 per household…still not enough, but a dramatic improvement over the federal minimum.

California has also introduced a bill to raise the minimum to $50 by the end of 2024. West Virginia has called for an increase to match the federal emergency allotments.

The pandemic may be “over,” but the disruptions caused by it have yet to settle and many families are having significant issues affording enough food.

Not all states, of course, are taking action to help. But in those that are, food insecurity should be significantly reduced.

Other states are taking a different approach, including bills designed to expand action, decrease food costs, and provide emergency food aid. Massachusetts has proposed giving extra money for three months to ease the transition.

Meanwhile, food banks are helping as much as they can…but they are often unable to keep up with demand and are themselves hit by rising costs and by people having less money to donate.

States are looking to increase the minimum SNAP benefit to help people deal with rising costs. The issue of food security, though, is going to remain for the foreseeable future.