EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The El Paso-Las Cruces metroplex region could be positioned to feel an “outsized effect” due to the potential cut to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, according to a university professor of economics.
“El Paso and Las Cruces are among the 20 most impoverished metropolitan economies in the United States, and there is a higher percentage of local households that rely upon SNAP benefits to be able to cover their food bills every month,” Tom Fullerton, professor of economics at the University of Texas at El Paso, said.
Food aid at risk of expiring as effort to fund SNAP benefits fails in Senate
While it is still unclear if the SNAP program will lose funding come Saturday, and if it does, how long will that last, Fullerton warned that if the cuts to SNAP last an extended period of time, the impact will be felt beyond the affected households.
“It also creates downside risks for a lot of the convenience stores and the grocery stores that are located in areas or in neighborhoods where SNAP reliance is higher than elsewhere. It might potentially lead to the closure of some of the food stores around both Las Cruces and El Paso. And that could translate into larger food deserts that already exist,” Fullerton said…