Representative Salud Carbajal hosted a virtual press conference on Friday to discuss a new bill that he says would decimate the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“This week, the House Agriculture Committee that I sit on voted along party lines 29 to 25 to advance legislation that would cut $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” said Carbajal.
According to the representative, the republican budget demands around $300 billion in cuts to programs under the House Agriculture Committee.
He says this threatens the largest-ever cut to SNAP.
Carbajal added that 119,000 residents in his district benefit from food assistance through SNAP, and 900 residents who participated in SNAP in the past year were veterans.
“We're talking within about a month, at the longest, this proposal will be considered by the floor of the House of Representatives,” said Carbajal. “The Senate will also be considering their version of the bill, and then both of those get reconciled. And you have one final bill. And so, the timeline is within the next few weeks.”
KSBY spoke with Randall Jordan, the Chairman of the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County, who told us the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created to put an end to the problems.
“This program has been riddled, riddled with fraud and abuse and waste,” said Jordan. “And DOGE, that's what they were mandated to do, was to find waste and fraud and basically cut it out of the budget. And that's exactly what the Republicans are trying to do.”
According to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, on average, SNAP participants receive an estimated $187 per month, or about $6.16 per day.
Local food banks on the Central Coast say that SNAP is essential.
“SNAP is, without a doubt, the best, most proven tool we have to alleviate hunger in a country that is blessed with abundant, nutritious food,” said Molly Kern, SLO Food Bank CEO.
According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), under this proposal, states would begin paying at least 5% of food benefit costs in the fiscal year 2028, and up to 25% if they have higher error rates.
FRAC states that based on the fiscal year 2023 data, 28 states would fall into the 25% bracket, which includes California.
They say this would force states to choose between raising taxes, cutting other programs, or limiting SNAP access.
“What's going on here is a change in the calculation of who pays, so those states which provided inaccurate estimates of income, family size, and the like, they're going to end up having to pay a higher amount of SNAP payments for their state,” said James Fenkner, Santa Barbara County GOP Executive Committee member.
