10/22/2025

LANSING - Changes planned to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, could begin affecting beneficiaries in Michigan and across the country as early as November 1st.

 The new federal budget is expanding SNAP work rules and reducing benefits. Public health officials say the cuts could force low-income Michigan families to choose lower-quality groceries due to the cost of healthy food. University of Michigan nutrition professor Kate Bauer says it's one more economic hit on already-stressed families.

                    0:12  "It's critical resources, especially during times like these, where food prices are incredibly high, housing prices are high, families’ budgets are being stretched in ways they never have before."

More than 1-point-4 million Michiganders received SNAP benefits in 2024, but economists say under the new rules, between 200-thousand and 300-thousand Michigan households could see significant reductions in benefits. The cuts were part of the G-O-P-backed budget reconciliation bill that made the 2017 tax cut program permanent.