Source: Omaha World Herald: Josh Reyes, July 28, 2025
When debating a bill in April that would ensure about 10,000 Nebraskans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could remain in the program, several lawmakers asked for assurance that if the federal government made cuts to SNAP, the state would not automatically be saddled with filling the gaps.
State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island, the sponsor of the bill to maintain the amount of money a household could earn and get SNAP, said his bill would not force the state to spend anything.
At the time, lawmakers were wary of a budget deficit of more than $400 million, so any new expense counted. About five months away from reconvening for the second half of the two-year session, lawmakers are already eyeing a deficit of $95 million, and additional SNAP costs may be on the table. It’s one of the many concerns to food security that have rippled from the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
STATE SHARE
The SNAP provisions in President Donald Trump’s megabill have drawn reactions that range from praising the bill for ensuring recipients are qualified to lambasting it for making food access harder and removing or reducing benefits for up to 22 million families. The bill cuts federal funding for SNAP by $186 billion through 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s a 20% cut and the largest in the program’s history.
The federal government is shifting some SNAP costs to states. Each state and the federal government split the administrative costs 50-50, but in the fiscal year that starts in October 2026, the state’s portion becomes 75%. Tim Williams, government affairs and advocacy officer for Food Bank for the Heartland, said that’s expected to cost up to $13 million.
Nebraska lawmakers “will very much have to think critically during this upcoming session on how they’re going to find that cost shift in order to make sure the program continues to operate at its current level, and there is concern that there will be cuts made to the program,” Williams said.
Quick said he hadn’t heard much talk yet about legislative responses to the federal bill, though he noted there was speculation about a special session that didn’t materialize. Speaker of Legislature John Arch asked lawmakers to watch federal spending and be mindful of its effects on the state. Quick said SNAP deliberations “are all going to be discussions with the Appropriations Committee and with the Health and Human Services Committee to figure out what those costs are going to be.”
Williams said with the shift in administrative responsibility, there’s concern that the error rate could increase, leading Nebraska to have to pay more for SNAP.
The cost differences are massive. Nebraska SNAP participants received about $332 million in 2024 — 5% of that total is $16.6 million, and 15% is $49.8 million.
Maintaining food, benefits
About 155,000 Nebraskans receive SNAP benefits, a little less than 8% of the state’s population. Meanwhile, about 259,000 Nebraskans, roughly one of every seven, are considered food insecure.
Williams said the level of need right now is higher than at its peak in the pandemic and that food insecurity in Nebraska is too big of a problem for the food bank to handle on its own.
The timing of many changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill is uncertain, “but what we do know is that when we take away funding for things like SNAP, it will only result in folks losing their benefits, which will then put an undue burden on an already overwhelmed pantry system,” Williams said.
Food Bank for the Heartland also helps people with the paperwork to receive SNAP, and Williams said the work requirements from the bill can make that harder.
Most people can receive up to three months of SNAP benefits every three years unless they are working 20 hours per week. The bill expands requirements to work (or volunteer or take classes) to people with children age 14 and older and adults from age 55 to 64. It ends exemptions for veterans and for people ages 18-24 who were in foster care as a kid.
“It’s important to remember that the vast majority of people who are on SNAP are working, so it’s just another layer of work to check in. And if you don’t click the right button on the computer or if you miss a phone call or something gets lost in the mail, it could result in losing your benefits,” Williams said.
staying afloat
Kendra Whittle used SNAP for about three years to support herself and her son and said until someone is in a situation where they are relying on SNAP, it’s easy to take for granted how hard keeping up with it can be.
“My benefits have lapsed because I didn’t turn my recertification paperwork in on time,” she said. “When you’re already drowning and then adding two or three more steps to paperwork and things like that, it just gets difficult to do.”
Whittle and Luka were starting over after fleeing domestic violence. An emergency program at Creighton University, where Whittle was a student, put a roof over their heads and covered rent for three months. But Whittle had to consider dropping out of school to find a job to stay afloat long term.
“I could not have gone to school without SNAP,” Whittle said. “It’s been a huge part of our life.”
The program, along with Medicaid, kept her and Luka fed and healthy and let her complete a doctorate program. Whittle is transitioning off of SNAP as she prepares to start working as an occupational therapist, but she watched with disappointment as the One Big Beautiful Bill passed earlier this month.
She joined a coalition of Nebraska health students who advocated against the One Big Beautiful Bill to Nebraska’s federal delegation, noting its effects to SNAP and Medicaid along with capping graduate student loans at an amount that makes advanced degrees unattainable for many.
In a letter, that coalition said SNAP pays dividends in helping kids succeed in school, adults work hard to attain their goals and mitigating larger health issues.
Quick, the state senator who passed a bill to maintain income limits for SNAP, called SNAP a hand up and that most able-bodied recipients are working to be self-sufficient.
“I think there are people out there who live in poverty that are in that cycle where they just can’t quite get ahead, and the next thing happens to them, like a health care issue that knocks them out of employment.”
Whittle said she had to overcome a sense of stigma with using SNAP and had internal concerns about people who might see her as a “welfare queen.” She said early on, she would disguise the EBT card in her hand while paying for groceries. But now she speaks openly about her experience and how SNAP helped her.
“I do think that we’re a really good example of how these programs are meant to be temporary,” Whittle said. “I think people think, ‘Oh, you’re just a welfare queen, and you’ll be on it forever,’ … but those services have lifted us from nothing to now being able to give back to Nebraska as a health care provider.”