The new federal spending bill will cut about $186 billion in food benefits nationwide over the next decade, and change eligibility requirements, which some say will likely make food security more challenging in Hawaiʻi.
The cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act impact the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, forcing states to pay for those cuts themselves, make changes to the program, or eliminate it altogether.
The low-income food program provides benefits for 42 million people nationwide, and about 160,000 every month in Hawaiʻi. The state gets about $50 million for SNAP monthly…